Department Humanism & Social Resilience, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Health Soc Care Community. 2021 May;29(3):800-808. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13319. Epub 2021 Feb 26.
Many interventions to combat the social isolation of older adults are hardly effective because they ignore both the heterogeneity of the target group and the uniqueness of the individual experiences of social isolation. In order to be effective, interventions must meet the individual needs of specific clients. In this study, we aim to gain insight into the process in which professionals seek to understand how clients assess their situation, and what this means for the help they provide. We investigated how social workers in one-to-one guidance trajectories try to attune to the needs of the clients they accompany and what considerations they make in doing so. The study was conducted between 2014 and 2017 in the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Participants were 20 social workers of 8 social work agencies who provided guidance to community-dwelling older adults who have been isolated for a long time and have problems in multiple life domains. We analysed 36 research-driven logbooks, written by the social workers, which contain case study descriptions with information about specific clients who belong to the target group of this study. We also interviewed the individual social workers and organised six focus groups with 8-12 of the participating social workers. Our findings make clear how social workers try to identify the needs of their clients and provide help that is tailored to their possibilities and ambitions. By giving recognition to the emotions and situations of their clients, and by practical problem-solving, they build a relationship with the older adults in which adequate help is accepted. The professionals set modest goals; their guidance helps stabilise the existing situation and may also contribute to the self-reliance of their clients. This knowledge will be highly valuable in the developing and implementation of programmes and interventions for this less-researched group.
许多针对老年人社交隔离的干预措施几乎没有效果，因为它们忽略了目标群体的异质性和个体社交隔离经历的独特性。为了有效，干预措施必须满足特定客户的个体需求。在这项研究中，我们旨在深入了解专业人员试图了解客户如何评估自己的情况的过程，以及这对他们提供的帮助意味着什么。我们调查了一对一指导轨迹中的社会工作者如何试图适应他们所陪伴的客户的需求，以及他们在这样做时会考虑哪些因素。该研究于 2014 年至 2017 年在荷兰鹿特丹市进行。参与者是 8 家社会工作机构的 20 名社会工作者，他们为长期孤立且在多个生活领域存在问题的社区居住的老年人提供指导。我们分析了 36 份由社会工作者撰写的以研究为驱动的日志，其中包含有关属于本研究目标群体的特定客户的案例研究描述。我们还采访了个别社会工作者，并组织了六次焦点小组，每组 8-12 名参与的社会工作者。我们的研究结果清楚地表明，社会工作者如何试图确定客户的需求，并提供适合他们可能性和野心的帮助。通过认可客户的情绪和情况，并通过实际解决问题，他们与老年人建立了关系，在这种关系中，他们接受了适当的帮助。专业人员设定了适度的目标；他们的指导有助于稳定现有情况，也可能有助于客户的自力更生。这些知识对于为这个研究较少的群体制定和实施方案和干预措施将具有很高的价值。
