Abstract
With increasing trends in loneliness and social isolation, more attention has been given to understanding the role of social factors in decreasing the burden on health and social care systems. The aim of this paper is to systematically identify reviews that investigated associations of social factors with health and social care service utilisation in older age. Following PRISMA guidelines, nine databases were searched from inception to October 2019, yielding 4197 unique records. Screening and quality appraisal were conducted by two independent reviewers. A total of 36 reviews, mostly from high-income countries were included in a narrative synthesis. Those studied varied from people with specific diseases (such as dementia and cardiac disorders) to outpatients and those in the community. Social support was the main social factor investigated, and all reviews focused on healthcare services utilisation (including re-hospitalisation, institutionalisation, and physician visits) except for one (integrative) review examining adult day service centres. Low social support, being unmarried and living alone were associated with an increased risk of re-hospitalisation and emergency department visits. Volunteering showed no evidence for nursing home admission prevention or reduction. While associations between social support and frequent attendance in primary care, and social relationships and physician visits were inconsistent. This paper highlights the need for more investigations drawing on longitudinal studies with more diversity (like ethnic groups in high-income countries). The findings suggest caution in assuming interventions aimed at strengthening social factors reduce health care utilisation.
Presenters
Sarah AssaadPhD Candidate, Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Social factors, Older adults, Service utilisation, Healthcare, Social care, Review
