Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
School of Health and Life Sciences, Federation University, Ballarat, Australia.
BMC Geriatr. 2018 Sep 24;18(1):226. doi: 10.1186/s12877-018-0913-1.
Social wellbeing factors such as loneliness and social support have a major impact on the health of older adults and can contribute to physical and mental wellbeing. However, with increasing age, social contacts and social support typically decrease and levels of loneliness increase. Group social engagement appears to have additional benefits for the health of older adults compared to socialising individually with friends and family, but further research is required to confirm whether group activities can be beneficial for the social wellbeing of older adults.
This one-year longitudinal mixed methods study investigated the effect of joining a community group, offering a range of social and physical activities, on social wellbeing of adults with a mean age of 70. The study combined a quantitative survey assessing loneliness and social support (n = 28; three time-points, analysed using linear mixed models) and a qualitative focus group study (n = 11, analysed using thematic analysis) of members from Life Activities Clubs Victoria, Australia.
There was a significant reduction in loneliness (p = 0.023) and a trend toward an increase in social support (p = 0.056) in the first year after joining. The focus group confirmed these observations and suggested that social support may take longer than 1 year to develop. Focus groups also identified that group membership provided important opportunities for developing new and diverse social connections through shared interest and experience. These connections were key in improving the social wellbeing of members, especially in their sense of feeling supported or connected and less lonely. Participants agreed that increasing connections was especially beneficial following significant life events such as retirement, moving to a new house or partners becoming unwell.
Becoming a member of a community group offering social and physical activities may improve social wellbeing in older adults, especially following significant life events such as retirement or moving-house, where social network changes. These results indicate that ageing policy and strategies would benefit from encouraging long-term participation in social groups to assist in adapting to changes that occur in later life and optimise healthy ageing.
孤独感和社会支持等社会福利因素对老年人的健康有重大影响，并有助于身心健康。然而，随着年龄的增长，社交接触和社会支持通常会减少，孤独感会增加。与与朋友和家人进行个人社交相比，群体社交活动似乎对老年人的健康有额外的好处，但需要进一步的研究来证实群体活动是否对老年人的社会幸福感有益。
这项为期一年的纵向混合方法研究调查了加入社区团体、提供一系列社交和体育活动对平均年龄为 70 岁的成年人社会幸福感的影响。该研究结合了一项评估孤独感和社会支持的定量调查（n=28；三个时间点，使用线性混合模型进行分析）和一项来自澳大利亚维多利亚生活活动俱乐部的成员的定性焦点小组研究（n=11，使用主题分析进行分析）。
加入后的第一年，孤独感显著降低（p=0.023），社会支持呈增加趋势（p=0.056）。焦点小组证实了这些观察结果，并认为社会支持可能需要 1 年以上的时间才能发展。焦点小组还发现，团体成员通过共同的兴趣和经验，为发展新的和多样化的社交关系提供了重要机会。这些联系是改善成员社会幸福感的关键，尤其是在他们感到被支持或联系以及不那么孤独的感觉方面。参与者一致认为，在退休、搬新家或伴侣身体不适等重大生活事件后，增加联系尤其有益。
成为提供社交和体育活动的社区团体的成员可能会改善老年人的社会幸福感，尤其是在退休或搬新家等社交网络发生变化的重大生活事件之后。这些结果表明，老龄化政策和战略将受益于鼓励长期参与社会团体，以帮助适应晚年生活中发生的变化，并优化健康老龄化。
