Effectiveness of a Peer-Based Intervention on Loneliness and Social Isolation of Older Chinese Immigrants in Canada: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Social isolation is a key concern for immigrant older adults. We examined the effectiveness of a peer-based intervention in reducing loneliness, social isolation, and improving psychosocial well-being with a sample of aging Chinese immigrants.Methods: Sixty community-dwelling older Chinese immigrants aged 65 and older were randomly assigned to an intervention group and a control group (n=30 each) in a randomized control parallel trial design. Intervention group participants received an eight-week peer support intervention. Twenty-four volunteers aged 48 to 76 engaged in two-on-one peer support through home visits and telephone calls to provide emotional support, problem-solving support, and community resource sharing. Social workers who are not blinded to the group assignment measured the changes of both the intervention group and the control group participants in a range of psychosocial outcomes including three primary outcomes (loneliness, social support, barriers to social participation) and five secondary outcomes (depressive symptoms, anxiety, life satisfaction, happiness, and purpose in life).Results: The 30 intervention group participants showed a statistically significant decrease in loneliness and increase in resilience when compared to the 30 control group participants. They reported fewer barriers to social participation, fewer depressive symptoms, increased life satisfaction, and happiness while no such improvements were observed in the control group.Conclusions: There is a need to further examine the use of peer-based interventions for both program effectiveness and delivery efficiency. In the era of population aging and increasing immigration, diverse aging adults can be trained to fill volunteer support roles via peer-based intervention approaches.Trial registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN14572069, Registered 23 December 2019 – Retrospectively registered, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN14572069Funding: There are no external funding for this study.

Relationships of leisure social support and flow with loneliness among nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic: An age-based moderating model

“…When older adults receive social support that satisfies their needs for expected social relationships, their loneliness decreases. 14 Leisure social support plays a similar role in leisure contexts. 12 Such results were supported by our study that an increase in leisure social support is associated with a decrease in loneliness among nursing home residents.…”

“…Although the causal relationship between social support and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults is well established, 14 nursing home residents typically have lower levels of social support than community-dwelling older adults do 16 and appear to have limited social support to reduce their loneliness. 15 Therefore, there is a need to identify an accessible particular type of support that is also negatively associated with loneliness among nursing home residents.…”

“… 13 To support the causal relationship between social support and loneliness, Lai et al recruited 60 older adults and assigned them to an experimental group involving an 8-week peer support intervention and a control group in a randomized control parallel trial design. 14 Twenty-four volunteers engaged in this peer support intervention through home visits and telephone calls to provide experimental group participants with social support. After the experiment ended, experimental results indicated that participants receiving the intervention significantly reduced their loneliness.…”