School of Health, Community and Education Studies, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Health Soc Care Community. 2011 Mar;19(2):198-206. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2524.2010.00967.x. Epub 2010 Nov 29.
There is increasing policy recognition that the alleviation of social isolation and loneliness in older people should be prioritised. Recently, technology, such as telephone networks and the Internet, has received attention in supporting isolated and lonely older people. Despite lack of evidence, telephone befriending has been considered an effective low-level method to decrease loneliness among older people. This study evaluated the impact of a national befriending scheme for isolated and/or lonely older people, involving eight project sites across the UK 2007-2008. The purpose was to assess the impact of different models of telephone-based befriending services on older people's health and well-being. A mixed methods approach was used. This paper reports on the findings from 40 in-depth interviews with older service recipients. The most important finding was that the service helped older people to gain confidence, re-engage with the community and become socially active again. Three topics were identified: why older people valued the service, what impact it had made on their health and well-being and what they wanted from the service. In addition, nine subthemes emerged: life is worth living, gaining a sense of belonging, knowing they had a friend, a healthy mind is a healthy body, the alleviation of loneliness and anxiety, increased self-confidence, ordinary conversation, a trusted and reliable service, the future--giving something back. In conclusion, the findings present in-depth qualitative evidence of the impact of telephone befriending on older people's well-being. Befriending schemes provide low-cost means for socially isolated older people to become more confident and independent and develop a sense of self-respect potentially leading to increased participation and meaningful relationships.
越来越多的政策认识到，应优先缓解老年人的社会孤立和孤独感。最近，技术（如电话网络和互联网）在支持孤立和孤独的老年人方面受到了关注。尽管缺乏证据，但电话陪伴已被认为是一种减少老年人孤独感的有效低层次方法。本研究评估了涉及英国 8 个项目地点的一项针对孤立和/或孤独的老年人的全国陪伴计划的影响，该计划于 2007-2008 年实施。目的是评估不同形式的基于电话的陪伴服务对老年人健康和幸福感的影响。采用混合方法。本文报告了对 40 名接受服务的老年人进行深入访谈的结果。最重要的发现是，该服务帮助老年人增强了信心，重新融入社区，再次变得活跃。确定了三个主题：老年人为什么重视这项服务，它对他们的健康和幸福感产生了什么影响，以及他们希望从这项服务中得到什么。此外，还出现了 9 个副标题：生活是值得的，获得归属感，知道他们有朋友，身心健康，缓解孤独和焦虑，增强自信心，普通对话，值得信赖的服务，未来——回馈社会。总之，这些发现提供了关于电话陪伴对老年人幸福感影响的深入定性证据。陪伴计划为社会孤立的老年人提供了低成本的方式，使他们更加自信和独立，培养自尊心，从而有可能增加参与度和建立有意义的关系。
