Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Aging Ment Health. 2024 Jan-Feb;28(1):142-150. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2023.2211549. Epub 2023 May 13.
There have been growing concerns that social distancing and stay-at-home mandates have exacerbated loneliness for older people. Empirical evidence about older people's experiences of loneliness and COVID-19 have quantified this phenomena without considering how older people themselves define and understand loneliness. This paper explores how older New Zealanders conceptualized and experienced loneliness under 'lockdown' stay-at-home measures.
This multi-methods qualitative study combines data from letters ( = 870) and interviews ( = 44) collected from 914 people aged over 60 and living in Aotearoa, New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a reflexive thematic analysis to conceptualise this data.
We identify three interconnected ways in which older people conceptualised and experienced loneliness: (1) relating to lack of emotional closeness to another often resulting from being physically separated from others and not being able to touch; (2) relating to separation from preferred identities and activities and was frequently associated with boredom and frustration; and (3) which often related to feeling let down by generalised and idealised forms of support, such as one's neighbourhood and health care system.
Older New Zealanders experienced lockdown loneliness in three interconnected ways rather than as a stable and homogenous experience. Māori, Pacific, Asian and New Zealand European older people often discussed loneliness in different ways; attesting to loneliness being a culturally-mediated concept shaped by expectations around desirable social interaction. We conclude the paper with implications for research and policy.
越来越多的人担心，社交距离和居家令会加剧老年人的孤独感。关于老年人孤独感和 COVID-19 的经验证据已经量化了这一现象，但没有考虑到老年人自己如何定义和理解孤独感。本文探讨了在“封锁”居家措施下，新西兰老年人如何概念化和体验孤独感。
这项多方法定性研究结合了来自新西兰奥塔哥地区 914 名 60 岁以上老年人在 COVID-19 大流行期间的信件（ = 870）和访谈（ = 44）的数据。我们进行了反思性主题分析来概念化这些数据。
我们确定了老年人概念化和体验孤独感的三种相互关联的方式：（1）与缺乏与他人的情感亲密有关，通常是由于与他人身体上的分离和无法接触造成的；（2）与与偏好的身份和活动的分离有关，通常与无聊和沮丧有关；（3）常常与对一般化和理想化的支持形式感到失望有关，例如自己的社区和医疗保健系统。
新西兰老年人以三种相互关联的方式体验孤独感，而不是一种稳定和同质的体验。毛利人、太平洋岛民、亚裔和新西兰欧洲裔老年人通常以不同的方式讨论孤独感；这证明孤独感是一个受理想社交互动期望影响的文化中介概念。本文最后讨论了研究和政策的意义。
