Nwofe Emmanuel Sunday, Akhtar Amirah, Parveen Sahdia, Windle Karen
Centre for Applied Dementia Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 19;19(12):e0309565. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309565. eCollection 2024.
Social isolation and loneliness (SIL) are complex issues that impact mental and physical wellbeing and are significant public health concerns. People from minority ethnic backgrounds living in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member states may be particularly vulnerable to experiencing SIL. This is due to various challenges associated with life in foreign countries, including cultural differences, settlement issues, low incomes, and discrimination. While many interventions have been developed to address SIL in the general population, there is little information about interventions designed for minority ethnic populations in OECD countries. Our study aimed to 1) Investigate existing interventions for minority ethnic communities in OECD countries; 2) Assess how these interventions are conceptualised to increase awareness of SIL risks on health factors.3) Explore culturally sensitive approaches in these interventions, and 4) Identify the most effective interventions in reducing SIL in minority ethnic populations.
We searched Medline, APA PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus from their inception to September 19th, 2023, and registered the scoping review at https://osf.io/fnrvc. Our search yielded 10,479 results, of which 12 studies were included: five RCTs, six non-randomized quasi-experimental studies, and one qualitative study. Interventions were grouped into four main categories: social facilitation, befriending, leisure and skills development, and health education programmes. While only a few interventions targeted minority ethnic populations specifically, our findings highlight the potential of culturally sensitive interventions in reducing social isolation and loneliness among minority ethnic communities in OECD countries. However, given the type and extent of evidence, it is still unclear which interventions are superior in reducing SIL in minority ethnic populations in OECD countries. Further research is necessary to understand which activities may be most effective for which communities. Such interventions should be designed and tailored to account for the broader risk implications of SIL to raise awareness of the population's peculiar health risk profile.
Interventions designed to address SIL among minority ethnic groups in OECD member states are scarce and have not been designed to account for the health risks profile of the population. Integrated research designs involving groups linked with minority ethnic populations are needed to link individual, community, and societal factors alongside population risk profiles for increased recognition of SIL as an important health factor.
社会隔离与孤独感（SIL）是影响身心健康的复杂问题，也是重大的公共卫生问题。生活在经济合作与发展组织（OECD）成员国的少数族裔人群可能特别容易遭受社会隔离与孤独感。这是由于与国外生活相关的各种挑战，包括文化差异、定居问题、低收入和歧视。虽然已经开发了许多干预措施来解决普通人群的社会隔离与孤独感问题，但关于为经合组织国家的少数族裔人群设计的干预措施的信息却很少。我们的研究旨在：1）调查经合组织国家针对少数族裔社区的现有干预措施；2）评估这些干预措施如何在健康因素方面提高对社会隔离与孤独感风险的认识；3）探索这些干预措施中具有文化敏感性的方法；4）确定在减少少数族裔人群社会隔离与孤独感方面最有效的干预措施。
我们检索了Medline、APA PsycINFO、心理学与行为科学文集、护理学与健康领域数据库、科学网和Scopus，检索时间从各数据库建库至2023年9月19日，并在https://osf.io/fnrvc上注册了范围综述。我们的检索产生了10479条结果，其中纳入了12项研究：5项随机对照试验、6项非随机准实验研究和1项定性研究。干预措施分为四大类：社交促进、结交朋友、休闲与技能发展以及健康教育项目。虽然只有少数干预措施专门针对少数族裔人群，但我们的研究结果凸显了具有文化敏感性的干预措施在减少经合组织国家少数族裔社区社会隔离与孤独感方面的潜力。然而，鉴于证据的类型和范围，目前仍不清楚哪些干预措施在减少经合组织国家少数族裔人群的社会隔离与孤独感方面更具优势。有必要进行进一步研究以了解哪些活动可能对哪些社区最有效。此类干预措施应进行设计和调整，以考虑社会隔离与孤独感更广泛的风险影响，从而提高对该人群特殊健康风险状况的认识。
旨在解决经合组织成员国少数族裔群体社会隔离与孤独感问题的干预措施稀缺，且未针对该人群的健康风险状况进行设计。需要综合研究设计，涉及与少数族裔人群相关的群体，将个体、社区和社会因素与人群风险状况联系起来，以提高对社会隔离与孤独感作为重要健康因素的认识。
