Bakgrund: Ensamhet är ett växande problem i samhället och särskilt bland den äldrebefolkningen. Ensamhet symboliseras som en upplevelse och kan vara ett frivilligt eller ofrivilligt val. Tidigare forskning har visat att ofrivillig ensamhet kan medföra negativa hälsoeffekter. Syfte: Att beskriva äldres upplevelser av ensamhet. Metod: En litteraturstudie med deskriptiv design. Resultatet baseras på 12 vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ ansats. Artiklarna söktes i databasen Medline via PubMed.Huvudresultat: De äldre beskrev upplevelsen av ensamhet ur olika perspektiv.Ensamheten beskrevs främst som något negativt, men det framkom även positivaupplevelser. De äldre skildrade de negativa upplevelserna som smärtsamma samt isolerande medan de positiva upplevelserna förknippades med frihet och beskrevs som ett frivilligt val. Slutsats En del äldre tycker att ensamheten är något av det värsta som finns, medan vissa inte påverkas av det eller till och med ser det som något positivt. Sjuksköterskan har en viktig roll i att uppmärksamma och minska de negativa upplevelserna som de äldre kan känna. Genom att stödja den äldre i dennes livsvärldkan sjuksköterskan lindra lidande och bidra till bibehållen hälsa och därmed minska möjliga negativa hälsoeffekter av den upplevda ensamheten. / Background: Loneliness is a growing problem in society and especially among the elderly population. Loneliness is symbolized as an experience and can be a voluntary orinvoluntary choice. Previous research has shown that involuntary loneliness can have negative health effects. Aim: To describe elderly peoples experiences of loneliness.Method: A literature study with descriptive design. The results are based on 12scientific articles with a qualitative approach. The articles were searched in the Medline database via PubMed. Main Result: The elderly descibed the experience of lonelinessfrom different perspectives. Loneliness was mainly described as something negative, but there were also positive experiences. The elderly portrayed the negative experiences as painful and isolating while the positive experiences were partly associated withfreedom. Conclusion: Some elderly think that loneliness is one of the worst things there is, while some don´t suffer from it at all or even see it as something positive. The nurse has an important role in paying attention to and reducing the negative experiences that the elderly may feel. By supporting the elderly in their life situation, the nurse can relieve suffering and contribute to the elderly`s maintained health and thereby reduce possible negative health effects caused by the perceived loneliness.

This essay is about students' interaction with people and organizations and how they have been affected by loneliness during Covid-19 pandemic. The starting point of the question and the purpose is based on research about how students' routines, mobility, relations with other people and institutions in Karlstad. A further research has been done to see whether loneliness is different, from a gender perspective. A quantitative survey was conducted on students between the ages of 19-29 who study at Karlstad University. Responses from the survey were analyzed with selected literature on the subject in order to arrive at a conclusion. The results of the study showed that loneliness is not so widespread due to various factors such as interaction with people and with some semi-organized field.

Ensamhet är en vanlig upplevelse bland äldre runtom i världen. Det är en subjektiv upplevelse som kan leda till både psykisk och fysisk försämring hos individen. Syftet var att belysa omvårdnadsåtgärder som kan tillämpas i mötet med äldre personer som lider av ofrivillig ensamhet. Metoden som användes var en allmän litteraturstudie med deduktiv ansats. Strukturerade sökningar i tre databaser för omvårdnadsforskning genomfördes. Det resulterade i tio vetenskapliga artiklar som analyserades utifrån strukturen för innehållsanalys. Analysen resulterade i fem kategorier: Medverkan, Stöd, Miljöanpassning, Observation och Samordning. Resultatet visar att medverkan kan främjas genom kommunikation med anhöriga vilket kan underlättas med hjälp av teknologi. Sjukvårdspersonal kan vara ett stöd för äldre personer genom att bygga en relation och ömsesidig tillit. Miljöanpassning kan genom sociala aktiviteter leda till nya kontakter och minskad känsla av ofrivillig ensamhet. Vid observation är riskbedömning är ett viktigt verktyg för att förhindra uppkomsten av andra hälsorelaterade problem. Samordning mellan olika organisationer kan främja den äldre personens oberoende. Konklusionen är att omvårdnadsåtgärder vid ofrivillig ensamhet hos äldre personer behöver individanpassas för att uppnå en så bra effekt som möjligt. / Loneliness is a common experience amongst older people all over the world. It’s a subjective feeling that may lead to mental and physical deterioration. The aim was to highlight nursing interventions when dealing with elderly people who experience involuntary loneliness. The method was a literature study with a deductive approach. Structured searches were made in three databases relevant for nursing research. It resulted in ten scientific articles that were subject to content analysis. The analysis resulted in five categories: Participation, Support, Environmental adaptation, Observation and Coordination. The result shows that participation can be promoted through communication with relatives which can be more accessible with the help of technology. Health care professionals can be a support to elderly persons by building a relationship and mutual trust. Environmental adaptation can enable new contacts through social activities. Observation through risk assessment is an important tool to prevent other health related problems. Coordination between organizations can help the elderly person to be more independent. The conclusion is that nursing interventions related to loneliness in elderly persons must be individualized to achieve the best possible effect.

Bakgrund: Åldrandet innebär naturliga biologiska, sociala och psykologiska förändringar, andelen äldre i samhället beräknas öka och äldre upplever ett lägre socialt deltagande kontra resten av befolkningen. Ensamhet beskrivs som en obehaglig eller oacceptabel avsaknad av relationer och involverar hur en person uppfattar, upplever och utvärderar den avsaknaden. Hälsoproblem och upplevelsen av livskvalitet är knutet till ensamhet. Ingen konsensus om fenomenet ensamhet finns inom vårdvetenskapen. Sjuksköterskan har viktig roll att upptäcka, motverka och förebygga ensamheten, därför behövs mer kunskap om fenomenet. Syfte: Att belysa äldre människors upplevelser av ensamhet. Metod: en litteraturstudie med kvalitativ ansats baserad på tio original artiklar med kvalitativ eller mixed-metod ansats. Resultat: Upplevelserna av ensamhet speglas i de fyra teman som analysen visade: ensamhet relaterat till förlust av relationer, den abstrakta ensamheten, den hanterbara ensamheten och den positiva ensamheten. Slutsats: Ensamheten hos äldre är ett fenomen som involverar hela människans livsvärld och upplevs ha positiva och negativa sidor. Tillgänglighet till relationer samt tankar och känslor kring dessa har en central betydelse i upplevelsen av ensamhet. Ensamheten sågs som hanterbar och förutsägbar, men samtidigt som någonting stigmatiserat som upplevdes svårt att prata om. Den positiva ensamheten sågs som självvald. I denna kunde tid för reflektion och eftertanke ges och människor kunde uppleva relationer till sig själv eller abstrakta ting. / Background: Aging involves natural biological, social and psychological changes, the amount of elderly people in society is expected to rise and elderly people experience a lower amount of social participation than the rest of the population. Loneliness is described as an unpleasant or inadmissible lack of relationships and involves how a person perceives, experiences and evaluates this lack of relationships. Health problems and perceived quality of life are tied to loneliness. Consensus on the phenomenon of loneliness does not exist in the nursing sciences. The nurse plays an important role in detecting, deterring and preventing loneliness; therefore more knowledge of the phenomenon is needed. Aim: To illuminate the lived experience of elderly people. Method: A literature review with a qualitative approach based on ten original articles with either a qualitative or mixed-method approach. Results: Four themes emerged that illuminate the experience of loneliness in elderly people: Loneliness related to the loss of relationships, the abstract loneliness, the manageable loneliness and the positive loneliness. Conclusion: Loneliness in the elderly is a phenomenon that involves the whole human being and his life world and is seen to contain both positive and negative sides. The availability of relationships along with thoughts and feelings surrounding these are seen to be central in the experience of loneliness. Loneliness was seen as manageable and predictable, but at the same time as stigmatized and was difficult to talk about. The positive loneliness was seen as something chosen. There was time for reflection and thought, and people were able to experience relationships with themselves or abstract things.

abstract: Approximately 89 million Americans will be age 65 and older by 2050 in the United States. This older adult population is especially vulnerable to loneliness as a result of numerous age-related risk factors including loss of social support and declining health. In addition to these common risk factors, refugee older adults may face increased loneliness as a consequence of war-related trauma, loss, and marginalized cultural values in their host country. Despite their heightened vulnerabilities to loneliness, the experiences of refugee older adults remain understudied. This is the first study aimed at understanding the loneliness experiences of community-dwelling Hmong older adults, an ethnic group resettled in the United States as refugees over 40 years ago. A constructivist grounded theory method guided by an intersectionality framework was used to address three aims: 1) to understand the concept of loneliness among community-dwelling Hmong older adults, 2) to explore the premigration, displacement, and postmigration experiences of loneliness among community-dwelling Hmong older adults, and 3) to examine how community-dwelling Hmong older adults cope with loneliness. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 17 Hmong older adults age 65 and older residing in Sacramento and Fresno, California. Analysis of the data was an iterative process between coding the data, generating focused codes, and connecting the categories to establish a conceptual pattern. Participants conceptualized loneliness as a negative experience represented through physical and emotional expressions and intensity, which were influenced by an intersectional identity. Factors that influenced their experiences of loneliness in the premigration, displacement, and postmigration phase were discussed as trust, loss, aging-related issues, isolation, sense of community, access to cultural community, instability, violence, and cultural adjustments. Their narratives offered several coping mechanisms including religious and spiritual beliefs, social support, wandering, activity engagement, and control and avoidance. These findings informed a conceptual model of loneliness that incorporated an intersectional identity, influencing factors, and coping mechanisms. Overall, the results provide nuanced cultural meanings and insight into the loneliness experiences of Hmong older adults. Implications for social work research, practice, and policy suggests the need for greater culturally- and linguistically-competent services informed by Hmong older adults. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Social Work 2019

This collection of short stories takes its name from various islands historically believed to exist and at one time or other located on maps, sometimes remaining on them for centuries, but later removed after they were proved to be illusory. Reports of these islands usually came from sailors as they explored new realms, mistaking actual islands for imaginary ones or by geographical error. Illusions can persist unchallenged for ages. A similar yet modern illusion is the persistence of vision, a phenomenon by which an afterimage, say, on a screen, is thought to persist on the retina for approximately one twenty-fifth of a second. The characters in these stories live their isolated lives as after-image phantoms on islands that either never existed or no longer exist.

Background: Elderly people are vulnerable and belong to the high-risk groups of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. Because of this, they also become more vulnerable in society due to COVID-19 restrictions. The government has used social distancing as a restriction to prevent the spread of COVID-19. People in general, and more specifically elderly people, were asked to stay at home to minimize the risk of becoming seriously ill for their own sake, and as not to overload the healthcare system. Social distancing had a negative impact on their health and well-being. Aim: To explore elderly's experience of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: The method used was a literature review, using qualitative and quantitative research.Results: Two overarching themes emerged: Psychological strain and facing a new reality, with four sub-themes: Increased loneliness, Negative emotions, New challenges and Coping strategies. Conclusions: The social distancing, related to the COVID-19 pandemic, has had a negative impact on the health of older people. Elderly people have suffered from loneliness, lack of well-being and have become isolated from society during the pandemic. They were encouraged not to burden the healthcare system and all their health promotion activities had been suspended due to the pandemic. Many elderly people have multiple illnesses and have previously experienced loneliness, which also worsened during the pandemic. The results showed an increased experience of loneliness and psychological burden. To cope with their new reality and challenges within, some older people found digital ways of socializing with each other and their relatives. It is important that society targets these high-risk groups to minimize their loneliness, depression, and subsequent increased morbidity. Keywords: COVID-19, elderly, loneliness, mental health, social distancing.

No description available.

Objective: People living with HIV (PLWH) commonly report sleep disturbances which are associated with long-term health consequences, including disease progression. PLWH also experience internalised stigma as a result of their HIV status, which can be associated with increased loneliness and depression. Little attention focuses on the impact of these factors on sleep. Therefore, we examined whether internalised HIV-stigma was indirectly related to poorer sleep quality through higher levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms. Design: 181 PLWH from across the United States completed an online survey. Main Study Measures: Internalised HIV-stigma was assessed using the HIV-Stigma Scale, loneliness was assessed using the UCLA-Loneliness Scale-Short Form, depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Index, and Sleep Quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results: Internalised HIV-stigma was indirectly associated with poorer global sleep quality and daytime sleep dysfunction through both loneliness and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: PLWH who experience HIV-related stigma may experience greater feelings of loneliness, which are related to increased depressive symptoms and poorer sleep quality. Interventions focused on improving sleep in PLWH should focus on multiple factors that influence sleep, including psychosocial factors such as stigma, social isolation and depressive symptoms.

We examined the links between HIV-stigma, loneliness and sleep quality in 181 people living with HIV (PLWH) who completed an online self-report questionnaire. Results suggested that the indirect effect of stigma on poorer sleep through increased loneliness was significant. Researchers will address implications for research on stigma and health.