The University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, Tucson, Arizona.
Sr Care Pharm. 2024 Jan 1;39(1):22-29. doi: 10.4140/TCP.n.2024.22.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, PharmD students at the University of Arizona (UArizona) had a long-standing relationship with the older people at St. Luke's Home, a local Eden Alternative assisted-living community. Hosting community engagement programs for assisted-living residents was challenging with COVID-19 precautions and older individuals suffering from social isolation and loneliness. To determine the impact of playing a virtual game, 'Name That Band,' on older people's and PharmD students' feelings of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Questionnaires were administered before and after a virtual game to residents at St. Luke's Home and PharmD students at UArizona. Participants were asked about their mood before COVID-19 and pre-and postgame, as well as their social interactions and feelings of loneliness using the Modified UCLA Three-Item Loneliness Scale, which assesses a composite score of lack of companionship, feelings of being left out, and isolation. Fifteen older people and 11 students participated in the game (N = 26). All participants completed the pregame survey and 25 completed the postgame survey. The older people reported fewer feelings of isolation and loneliness (measured by a reduction in UCLA Loneliness Scale score) postgame compared with pregame. The students reported a higher total UCLA Loneliness Scale score during the pandemic than prepandemic, but there was no difference in their scores postgame compared with pregame. More older people and students reported feeling 'happy' after playing the virtual game together compared with before the pandemic and before playing. The aspect of the activity that helped older people and students feel more socially engaged was playing a game. A social intervention using a virtual game may be a tool that can be used to decrease feelings of isolation and increase engagement for older people residing in an assisted-living community.
在 COVID-19 大流行之前，亚利桑那大学（UArizona）的药学博士学生与当地伊甸园替代辅助生活社区圣卢克之家的老年人建立了长期关系。由于 COVID-19 预防措施和老年人遭受社交隔离和孤独的困扰，为辅助生活居民举办社区参与计划具有挑战性。为了确定在 COVID-19 大流行期间玩虚拟游戏“Name That Band”对老年人和药学博士学生的社交隔离感的影响。在圣卢克之家的居民和 UArizona 的药学博士学生中，在游戏前后进行了问卷调查。参与者被要求在 COVID-19 之前和游戏前后报告他们的情绪，以及他们的社交互动和孤独感，使用修改后的加州大学洛杉矶分校三项孤独量表，该量表评估缺乏陪伴感、被排斥感和孤立感的综合得分。有 15 位老年人和 11 位学生参加了游戏（N=26）。所有参与者都完成了游戏前的调查，有 25 人完成了游戏后的调查。与游戏前相比，老年人报告的孤独感和孤独感（通过降低 UCLA 孤独量表评分来衡量）在游戏后减少。与大流行前相比，学生在大流行期间报告的 UCLA 孤独量表总分更高，但与游戏前相比，他们的分数没有差异。与大流行前和大流行前相比，更多的老年人和学生报告在玩完虚拟游戏后感到“快乐”。帮助老年人和学生感到更社交参与的活动方面是玩游戏。使用虚拟游戏进行社交干预可能是一种工具，可以用来减少老年人在辅助生活社区中感到孤立的感觉并增加他们的参与度。
