Community interventions to reduce feelings of loneliness in the elderly: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of community interventions in reducing loneliness among older adults aged 60 years and older.

Materials and methods: The systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 and Cochrane guidelines, using the PICOT framework. Eligibility criteria included intervention studies with Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) designs conducted in individuals aged 60 and older experiencing loneliness, published in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, and carried out in Latin America, Europe, and Asia over the last 11 years. Database searches were performed in VHL, MEDLINE/PubMed, Dialnet, LILACS, and SciELO, supplemented by websites (Google Scholar) and manual citation searching. Search terms and structure were developed based on MeSH terms in English and DeCS terms in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, using the Boolean operators AND and OR. Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed according to the CONSORT 2010 statement.

Results: A total of 7,810 studies were identified, of which 13 met the eligibility criteria. The findings demonstrated that effective community interventions were multidisciplinary approaches focused on physical activity, peer support, meditation, the use of ICTs, and social support.

Conclusions: Community interventions are effective. Therefore, it is important to implement multidisciplinary interventions that consider physical, social, and psychological dimensions in the design, implementation, and follow-up of these interventions.

Keywords: Loneliness; Elderly; Systematic review, Mental health.