The loneliness epidemic: New guidelines to help care for seniors with loneliness or social isolation

The Canadian Coalition for Seniors' Mental Health (CCSMH) recently published Canada’s first-ever guidelines on social isolation and loneliness among seniors. The new guidelines are designed to inform healthcare providers working with seniors of the risks associated with social isolation and loneliness. These risks include negative effects on mental, emotional and physical health. There’s even an elevated risk of premature death. Studies have shown that the adverse effects of social isolation are comparable to effects associated with alcohol use disorders or an individual smoking 15 cigarettes a day. "People don’t see it as a health problem, they see it as a social problem,” said Dr. David K. Conn, CCSMPA co-chair, executive vice president of education and chief academic officer at the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education and professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto.The 17 guidelines seek to provide a set of tools for healthcare professionals to better treat any patient experiencing loneliness or social isolation.Taking the time to askDr. Conn encourages professionals to get into the habit of asking patients if they feel lonely. If patients say yes, “professionals can then ask them more questions to determine what factors are contributing [to their isolation], so they know how to help them,” he added. Since the factors that can contribute to feelings of isolation are varied, recommendations need to be tailored to the needs of each patient, added another CCSMPA member, Dr. Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard, professor at the school of nursing and director of the centre on aging at the Université de Moncton. It’s important for healthcare professionals to have a solid knowledge of resources available in their community so they can offer options tailored to each patient’s situation. Read: Too many older adults are taking risky sedative medicationsBeing acquainted with available resources is especially critical for patients who are part of a marginalized community. “Any minority group is more likely to experience isolation for a variety of reasons,” continued Dr. Conn. The guidelines recommend connecting patients with appropriate community organizations. He also advises professionals to consider the intersectionality of different communities in order to determine an even more appropriate solution for certain people’s needs.Fluid communication between the healthcare provider and the patient is essential, so the patient feels comfortable communicating their problems and needs, Dr. Conn said. It’s up to the healthcare professional to judge the best and most effective method of communicating with the patient, depending, for example, on the language they speak. Although social isolation and loneliness are not new evils in our society, Dr. Dupuis-Blanchard illustrated that they are among “the health challenges that we don’t see, compared to a broken arm.” This can get in the way of a proper diagnosis.“Even before the pandemic, we knew there was a strong association between loneliness, isolation and poor health,” Dr. Conn said. COVID-19 exacerbated the epidemic of loneliness, both among the elderly and the young, which then attracted the attention of the medical field. The World Health Organization (WHO) has organized a Commission on Social Connection to study this emerging problem. The CCSMPA hopes that the guidelines will become standard practice in medical clinics across the country, and will be integrated into the training of future healthcare professionals. The working group behind the guidelines is now looking to launch the second phase of the project to put the recommendations into practice in the Canadian healthcare system.“Sometimes guidelines are produced and they just gather dust, which is not a good thing. Our hope is to actually put them into practice,” Dr. Conn said.The guidelines were published on CCSMPA’s website.Read: New Canadian guidelines outline how to assess and manage anxiety in older adultsThis article was translated from French and originally ran in our sister publication Profession Santé.

The loneliness epidemic: New guidelines to help care for seniors with loneliness or social isolation

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