Park Sojung, Kwak Minyoung, Lee Hyunjoo
Brown School at Washington University in St.Louis, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
Department of Social Welfare, Daegu University, Gyeongsan, Korea.
Res Aging. 2024 Apr 24:1640275241248773. doi: 10.1177/01640275241248773.
This study aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19 on loneliness among rural older women in senior cohousing in Korea. Using a natural experimental study design, we investigated how the pandemic-induced closure of cohousing affected the former residents' loneliness. The sample comprised 84 cohousing residents and 51 individuals in conventional homes. The dependent variable is loneliness, and the independent variables include housing transition, social contact, and support from neighbors and friends. Our findings from fixed effect regression models showed former cohousing residents were less likely to experience loneliness when they had more contact with their friends and neighbors, while negative relationships exacerbated feelings of loneliness. Sharing meals and participating in activities with friends and neighbors in cohousing helped the residents develop effective coping strategies. Senior cohousing in rural areas has the potential to strengthen social ties and protect the most vulnerable subgroup of older adults from social isolation and loneliness.
本研究旨在探讨新冠疫情对韩国农村老年女性在老年共同居住社区中孤独感的影响。采用自然实验研究设计，我们调查了疫情导致的共同居住社区封闭如何影响前居民的孤独感。样本包括84名共同居住社区居民和51名传统家庭中的个体。因变量是孤独感，自变量包括住房变迁、社交接触以及来自邻居和朋友的支持。我们固定效应回归模型的研究结果表明，前共同居住社区居民在与朋友和邻居有更多接触时，经历孤独感的可能性较小，而负面关系会加剧孤独感。在共同居住社区中与朋友和邻居一起用餐和参与活动有助于居民制定有效的应对策略。农村地区的老年共同居住社区有潜力加强社会联系，并保护最脆弱的老年亚群体免受社会隔离和孤独感的影响。
