Abstract
As the OECD reports, there is an increasing demand for long-term residential care, especially for the oldest-old. However, some scholars underscored that living in long-term care facilities may lead to social exclusion, more specifically to the risk of being socially isolated and lonely. Nevertheless, research comparing social isolation and loneliness between the noninstitutionalised and institutionalised oldest-old is still scant. We investigate sociodemographic and health correlates of social isolation and loneliness in institutionalised and home-dwelling centenarians and the association with institutionalisation per se. Data were collected in 2021 through phone interviews in the context of SWISS100, an ongoing study of centenarians living in Switzerland. The sample included 98 institutionalised and 56 home-dwelling centenarians recruited via in-person or proxy interviews. We applied descriptive statistics to evaluate differences in social isolation and loneliness between institutionalised and home-dwelling centenarians and ordered logistic regression models to assess the association between isolation and loneliness and individual characteristics (e.g., education, subjective health). On average, institutionalised centenarians reported fewer social contacts and higher loneliness than home-dwelling ones. Sociodemographic and health indicators differentially predicted social isolation and loneliness in these two populations. Furthermore, institutionalisation per se showed a significant effect on loneliness but not on social isolation. Our findings show that living settings shape centenarians’ levels of social isolation and loneliness, differentiating the contribution of personal determinants. Furthermore, living in long-term care facilities plays by itself an independent role in predicting loneliness. This prompts considering carefully the living environment when analysing determinants of social exclusion of the very old.
Presenters
Daniele ZaccariaResearcher, Centre of Competence on Ageing - Business Economics, Health, and Social Care, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Switzerland
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Ensuring Quality Long-Term Care
KEYWORDS
Social isolation, Loneliness, Long-term care facilities, Oldest-old, Centenarians, Switzerland
