Bridgepoint Active Care, 1 Bridgepoint Dr, Toronto, ON, M4M 2B5, Canada.
Sinai Health Systems, Toronto, Canada.
BMC Geriatr. 2022 Aug 2;22(1):636. doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-03312-z.
Evidence supports loneliness and social isolation as a strong risk factor for poor mental and physical health outcomes for older adults. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated older adults isolate themselves for a prolonged duration. The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto established the Student-Senior Isolation Prevention Partnership (SSIPP), a volunteer program involving telephone calls between medical students and older adults.
A mixed methods pre-post study design included collecting quantitative data from older adults using the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. The study included 29 medical students and 47 older adults. The medical students filled out a questionnaire on self-perceived knowledge of social isolation, perception of seniors, attitudes towards seniors, and likelihood to engage in specialties focusing on older adults. Interviews were conducted with both the older adults and the medical students to understand each groups' experiences and perspectives with taking part in the SSIPP program.
Participation in the program resulted in significant changes for medical students in areas such as increasing their likelihood to engage in care for older adults (p < .001), improving their knowledge of social isolation for seniors (p < .001), and the value of addressing social isolation in older adults (p < .001). The interviews conducted with the medical students support these findings and provide insight into contributing factors. Loneliness and mental well-being scales did not show significant changes for older adults however, our interviews revealed they considered the program to be valuable.
Our results showed that after the communication outreach program, medical students' perceptions were positively influenced towards older adults and they were more likely to pursue a career concentrated on older adults. The qualitative analysis revealed older adults valued the program. Timing and consistency of calls were factors identified by this group as having practical importance.
有证据表明，孤独和社会隔离是老年人身心健康不良的一个强有力的风险因素。由于 COVID-19 大流行，老年人需要长时间自我隔离。多伦多大学医学院成立了学生-老年人隔离预防伙伴关系（SSIPP），这是一个志愿者项目，包括医学生和老年人之间的电话交流。
采用混合方法的前后测设计，使用 UCLA 孤独量表和华威-爱丁堡心理健康量表从老年人那里收集定量数据。该研究包括 29 名医学生和 47 名老年人。医学生填写了一份关于自我感知的社会隔离知识、对老年人的看法、对老年人的态度以及参与专注于老年人的专业的可能性的问卷。对老年人和医学生进行了访谈，以了解双方参与 SSIPP 项目的经验和观点。
参与该项目后，医学生在以下方面发生了显著变化，如增加了为老年人提供护理的可能性（p<0.001），提高了对老年人社会隔离的认识（p<0.001），以及重视老年人的社会隔离（p<0.001）。对医学生进行的访谈支持了这些发现，并提供了对此类项目的深入了解。虽然老年人的孤独感和心理健康量表没有显示出显著变化，但我们的访谈表明他们认为该项目很有价值。
我们的研究结果表明，在开展沟通外展项目后，医学生对老年人的看法受到了积极影响，他们更有可能选择专注于老年人的职业。定性分析显示，老年人重视该项目。本研究小组还发现，电话的时间和一致性是具有实际重要性的因素。
