1st Edition
Loneliness and Social Isolation in Old Age Correlates and Implications
This book is a seminal guide to loneliness and social isolation in old age, providing a comprehensive overview of the important correlates of socioeconomic, health and lifestyle factors upon loneliness and social isolation in old age.
Bringing together contributions from leading authorities, the book showcases expertise from, among other things, medicine, psychology, epidemiology, sociology, economics and gerontology. It shows the importance of identifying factors associated with loneliness and social isolation among older adults from a broader perspective, and includes discussion of a range of topics including income poverty, physical activity, family care and frailty. The chapters are evidence-based and offer a mix of empirical studies as well as reviews of international research. The book also discusses policy implications and provides an overview of nationally representative cohort studies around the world available to researchers quantifying loneliness or social isolation.
This book is unique in examining loneliness and social isolation from such wide-ranging perspectives and will be essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students in the areas of e.g., mental health research, social work, and psychiatry. Health professionals involved with gerontology and geriatrics will also find this book of benefit.
With the exception of Chapter 17, the Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
Preface
André Hajek, Steffi G. Riedel-Heller and Hans-Helmut König
Part One - Concepts: Loneliness and social isolation
Chapter One – The concepts and measurement of social isolation and loneliness
Theo G. van Tilburg and Jenny de Jong Gierveld
Part Two – Correlates of loneliness and social isolation in old age: Overview
Chapter Two – Impacts of loneliness and social isolation on healthy longevity in older adults
Chih-Kuang Liang, Che-Sheng Chu and Liang-Kung Chen
Part Three – Correlates of loneliness and social isolation in old age: Socioeconomic factors
Chapter Three – Socioeconomic correlates of loneliness and social isolation in late life
Till Kaiser and Maike Luhmann
Chapter Four – Correlates of loneliness and social isolation in old age: Poverty
Thomas K.M. Cudjoe
Chapter Five – Culture, social isolation and loneliness in later life
Vanessa Burholt
Part Four – Correlates of loneliness and social isolation in old age: Lifestyle-related factors
Chapter Six – Loneliness and Social Isolation Among Older Informal Caregivers: A Review of the Evidence From Longitudinal Investigations
Snorri Bjorn Rafnsson
Chapter Seven – Grandchild care and loneliness
Feng-jen Tsai and Tuo-Yu Chen
Chapter Eight – Pet ownership, Loneliness and Social Isolation
Benedikt Kretzler, Hans-Helmut König and André Hajek
Chapter Nine – Online social media use, loneliness and perceived social isolation in later life: A short overview and some empirical evidence
André Hajek and Hans-Helmut König
Chapter Ten – Lifestyle-related factors in loneliness and social isolation of older persons: A Ghanaian study
Razak M. Gyasi, Gloria Chepngeno Langat, Anokye M. Adam and David R. Phillips
Part Five – Correlates of loneliness and social isolation in old age: Health-related factors
Chapter Eleven – Health comparisons and loneliness and perceived social isolation: A brief overview and empirical evidence
André Hajek and Hans-Helmut König
Chapter Twelve – Obesity and loneliness in old age: Associations with weight stigma
Claudia Luck-Sikorski and Franziska Jung
Chapter Thirteen – Frailty and loneliness/social isolation in late life
Gotaro Kojima and Marianne Tanabe
Chapter Fourteen – Multimorbidity, Loneliness, and Social Isolation. A Systematic Review
André Hajek, Benedikt Kretzler and Hans-Helmut König
Chapter Fifteen – Social Isolation, Loneliness and Mental Health in Old Age
Janine Stein and Steffi G. Riedel-Heller
Part Six – Policy implications and future of loneliness and social isolation
Chapter Sixteen – Public Policy and the Reduction and Prevention of Loneliness and Social Isolation
Louise Hawkley
Chapter Seventeen – Loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic
Lena Dahlberg
Part Seven – Overview: Longitudinal aging studies around the world available to researchers
Chapter Eighteen – Overview: Loneliness and social isolation in longitudinal aging studies around the world
André Hajek and Hans-Helmut König
Biography
André Hajek is Professor for Interdisciplinary Health Care Epidemiology, Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.
Steffi G. Riedel-Heller is Professor of Social Medicine and Public Health, and Director of the Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), University of Leipzig, Germany.
Hans-Helmut König is Professor of Health Services Research and Health Economics, and Director of the Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.
