Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department, James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK.
School of Education, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G3 6NH, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 28;19(9):5353. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095353.
Physical distancing practices during the COVID-19 global pandemic contributed to a high degree of social isolation among older adults. To reduce loneliness and other ill effects of social isolation, public health experts recommended outdoor social gathering, with physical distancing. Adopting a case study approach, we explored how social aspects of group outdoor health walks (GOHWs) mitigate social isolation for older adults and improve individual social wellbeing. We used semi-structured interviews to understand the experiences of social isolation and social relationships in nine older (50-80 s) adults participating in a GOHW in Scotland, United Kingdom (UK). Verbatim transcripts were analysed through an iterative process of thematic analysis carried out by an interdisciplinary team of qualitative researchers from environmental psychology, medicine, and geography. Themes provide insight into the social dimensions of GOHWs, the mediating effects of social experiences, and the contribution these make to individual social wellbeing. GOHWs provide opportunities to be part of a group and attend to the needs of inexperienced or physically challenged individuals. Being part of the group walk fosters casual interpersonal interactions through spontaneous mixing during and after the walk. This programmatic structure counters loneliness, engenders pleasurable anticipation of regular contact with others, supports physical activity, and fosters group cohesion. These in turn contribute to individual social wellbeing, including expanding social networks, meaningful relationships, a sense of belonging, and acting on empathy for others. GOWHs may be beneficial for mitigation of social isolation as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings were used to propose a conceptual model to parse social constructs and inform selection or development of quantitative social measures for future studies of nature-based interventions such as GOHWs.
在 COVID-19 全球大流行期间，实施身体疏远措施使老年人的社交孤立程度达到了很高的程度。为了减少孤独感和其他社交隔离的不良影响，公共卫生专家建议进行户外社交聚会，并保持身体距离。采用案例研究方法，我们探讨了团体户外健康步行（GOHW）的社交方面如何减轻老年人的社交孤立感并改善个人社交幸福感。我们使用半结构化访谈来了解九名参加苏格兰英国（UK）GOHW 的老年人（50-80 岁）的社交孤立和社交关系的经验。通过由环境心理学、医学和地理学的跨学科定性研究人员组成的团队进行的迭代主题分析，对逐字记录进行了分析。主题提供了对 GOHW 的社交维度、社交经验的中介作用以及这些经验对个人社交幸福感的贡献的深入了解。GOHW 提供了成为团体一部分并满足无经验或身体有挑战的个人需求的机会。作为团体步行的一部分，通过步行中和步行后的自发混合促进了偶然的人际互动。这种计划性结构可以缓解孤独感，引起对与他人定期接触的愉快期待，支持身体活动并促进团队凝聚力。这些反过来又有助于个人的社交幸福感，包括扩大社交网络、有意义的关系、归属感以及对他人的同情心。GOWH 在我们从 COVID-19 大流行中恢复时可能有助于缓解社交孤立。研究结果被用来提出一个概念模型，以解析社会结构，并为未来关于基于自然的干预措施（如 GOHW）的研究提供选择或开发定量社交措施的信息。
