No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Loneliness, cumulative inequality and social capital in later life: Two stories
Abstract
The potential impact of cumulative inequality upon loneliness in later life is under-researched. This study applies Ferraro and Shippee’s axioms of cumulative inequality to the narratives of two Northern Irish older women, who completed semi-structured diary entries over a 16-week period, recording and reflecting on their social lives and their personal histories. The two women were subsequently interviewed on the basis of what they had recorded. These stories reveal how the life trajectories of these two individuals are influenced by the different experiential impact of bonding and bridging social capital. Despite similar life experiences, significant and substantial differences emerged in the women’s stories, relating to work life, social class, the restrictions of a caring role, and physical and mental health. These two narratives not only provide evidence of the impact of cumulative inequality on loneliness but also highlight the lifetime impact of socio-economic status and access to capital affecting older women’s vulnerability to loneliness.
... The theme has traits similar to the earlier theme of sacrifice, with the holiday providing the setting for this manifestation. The travel companions of youth are a resource that can be drawn upon at a later life stage (Hagan, Manktelow and Taylor, 2020), and the theme of travel companionship is most associated with the final life stage. ...
Previous research has highlighted the importance of past life experiences in the theoretical and conceptual understanding of loneliness. However, adding a lifecourse perspective to loneliness research remains underexplored. To comprehend the complexity of loneliness in old age, it is crucial to pay attention to the lifecourse perspective. This study addresses an important lifecourse perspective on loneliness through an in-depth, narrative approach. Building on the cognitive discrepancy theory, this study examines how precipitating events and coping strategies throughout the lifecourse may influence current feelings of loneliness in older adults. We qualitatively examined the experienced lifecourse of 20 lonely older adults living in Belgium by applying a modified version of the McAdams life-story interview scheme. Next, we conducted eight member-check interviews. A first finding provided insight into the importance of precipitating events during the lifecourse for current loneliness. The results pointed not only to the lifelong impact of events during childhood and adulthood, which may lead to vulnerability to loneliness later in life: unrealised life events ( e.g. not being able to have children) as well as events with no impact earlier in life nevertheless turned out to be relevant in the emergence of loneliness later in life. Second, the narratives revealed that several older adults who experienced loneliness earlier and later in life continued to use the same coping strategies throughout the lifecourse, whereas by contrast some older adults adapted their coping strategies based on previous experiences and improved their loneliness-coping skills. It also appeared that changes in people's resources, such as the presence of physical limitations, may make it more difficult to cope with loneliness in later life. The discussion makes a plea for lifelong prevention of and attention to loneliness.
This paper uses precarity as a framework to understand the vulnerabilities experienced by those living with or caring for someone living with dementia. Drawing on qualitative interview data from the Improving the Experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life (IDEAL) programme, we attend to our participants' reflections on how they manage the condition and the wider circumstances in which this occurs. To interrogate the utility of precarity, we focus on our participants' descriptions of needs and challenges and set these alongside both the wider contexts in which they seek or offer care (formal and informal) and the sets of values attributed to different ways of living with dementia. Building on the work of Portacolone, our analysis identified four interconnected themes: uncertainty; experiences of support and services; independence and personhood; and cumulative pressures and concerns. We develop this analysis by reviewing how our themes reflect, extend, or depart from previously identified markers of precarity and consider the specific ways in which these markers shape the lives of those living with dementia.
Across the world, the experiences of women in later life vary enormously, not only along intersectional lines, but also due to cumulative (dis)advantages over an individual’s life course. The current study explores how early-life structural (dis)advantages experienced by older African women (particularly experiences related to economic adversity and the social disadvantages that often accompany it) shape their later life experiences and agency. The life stories used in this paper emerged from a larger qualitative study of aging and gender identities in Tanzania based on fifteen (15) in-depth interviews and ten (10) focus group discussions with women 60 to 82 years old. Analyzing the data from an intersectional perspective and life course approach demonstrated that older women’s situations area result of the complex interaction of various structural and individual factors, and that timing is crucial for exercising agency. The findings also revealed that as a result of gender norms, the majority of older Tanzanian women were vulnerable to discrimination, poverty, and violence. The norms that promote gender discrimination also limit women’s agency and social functioning subject to the constraints imposed. To help protect older women against discrimination and violence, gender-sensitive policies, social programs and legal reforms are critical for speed up the pace of change and foster permanent shifts in harmful gender norms so that aging experiences are no longer all about being a woman.
Although studies have suggested that community social capital contributes to narrow income-based inequality in depression, the impacts may depend on its components. Our multilevel cross-sectional analysis of data from 42,208 men and 45,448 women aged 65 years or older living in 565 school districts in Japan found that higher community-level civic participation (i.e., average levels of group participation in the community) was positively associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms among the low-income groups, independent of individual levels of group participation. Two other social capital components (cohesion and reciprocity) did not significantly alter the association between income and depressive symptoms.
Purpose:
The aim of the present study is to analyze the role of age in the association between socio-economic status (SES) and loneliness as well as the role of neighborhood social capital (NSC) in the association between individual social capital and loneliness.
Methods:
Data include a representative population-based sample from Sant Boi de Llobregat (a suburb of Barcelona) of 1124 adults aged 50 and over. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the survey data. Interactions between SES and age, and NSC and individual social capital were explored.
Results:
Among the poorest older adults, older individuals showed a lower likelihood of loneliness (OR 0.09, 95% CI 0.02, 0.30, p < 0.05) compared with the youngest cohort after adjusting for covariates, while among the richest individuals there were no significant differences among age cohorts. Individuals living in an area with high NSC and high individual social capital showed a lower likelihood of loneliness (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.17, 0.73, p < 0.05) compared with those with low individual social capital after adjusting for covariates. The effect of individual social capital was not significant among individuals living in an area with low NSC.
Conclusion:
Interventions focusing on low SES middle-aged (50-59 years old) individuals and those aiming to increase NSC could be effective strategies to reduce the prevalence of loneliness in older people.
Social capital is defined as the resources available to individuals and groups through membership in social networks. However, multiple definitions, distinct dimensions and subtypes of social capital have been used to investigate and theorise about its relationship to health on different scales, creating a confusing picture. This heterogeneity makes it necessary to systematise social capital measures in order to build a stronger foundation in terms of how these associations between the different aspects of social capital and each specific health indicator develop. We aim to provide an overview of the measurement approaches used to measure social capital in its different dimensions and scales, as well as the mechanisms through which it is presumed to influence health. Understanding the mechanisms through which these relationships develop may help to refine the existing measures or to identify new, more appropriate ones.
Neighborhood social capital has repeatedly been linked to favorable health-outcomes and life satisfaction. However, it has been questioned whether it’s impact on health has been over-rated. We aim to investigate relationships between neighborhood social capital and self-rated health (SRH) and life satisfaction (LS) respectively, both directly and indirectly mediated via Sense of Coherence and self-esteem. Based on a cross-sectional population-survey (N=865) in a medium size Norwegian municipality, we specified a structural equation model (SEM) including the above-listed variables, while controlling for gender, age, education, income, and employment status. The applied model explains more variance in LS (46%) than in SRH (23%). Social capital has a stronger impact on life satisfaction than on health. The indirect pathway via SOC had the highest impact on life satisfaction, but no significant relationship to SRH. Self-rated health was more tightly linked to personal background variables. Enhancing social capital in the neighborhood might be a beneficial strategy to promote life satisfaction, as well as strengthening sense of coherence even in healthy communities
In any social analysis, one can attribute observed behavioural outcomes to actions and inactions of people (agents) or to the presence or absence of certain structures or systems. The dualism of agent and structure is resolved through the concept of duality as proposed by Anthony Giddens in his structuration theory (ST). Though ST has been applied in other disciplines, it is either less known or applied in psychology. This paper sought to examine ST as a framework for understanding the interdependent relationship between structure and agents in the light of offering explanatory framework in social science research or policy formulation. It concluded with an integrated model comprising elements of both Bandura’s social-cognitive theory and Giddens’ ST.
Of increasing interest to gerontologists is resilience: the capacity for coping with the challenges of later life with openness and positivity. An overlooked factor in resilience, however, is the narrative complexity of older persons' self-accounts. The research on which this article is based is part of a larger project aimed at assessing the role of narrative interventions in strengthening the stories that older people tell about their lives. Presented here are preliminary findings from analyses conducted by our multidisciplinary team (representing gerontology, social work, nursing, dementia studies, and literary theory) on open-ended life story interviews done with 20 community-dwelling individuals (15F, 5M; aged 65-89years) who completed the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale. Specifically, we compared the self-accounts of the 6 from these 20 who scored highest on the CDRS with the 7 who scored lowest to determine any patterns in how each group "stories" their lives. We conclude with certain observations of relevance to narrative care.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
In most narrative approaches to understanding old age, the primary object of interest is the told story. However, what is often overlooked in narrative research are the untold stories - the silences, gaps, and omissions that form a type of shadow story or a story that lies just below the surface of what is said or written. This paper presents an illustrative case example of Constance to demonstrate how careful listening can help uncover hidden stories in an interview. In this case, Constance mentions two people (her brother and husband) as being important in her life yet omits them from the majority of her interview. The interviewer is able to uncover a hidden story with regard to her brother, learning important details about their relationship that would have otherwise gone unspoken. Overall, findings point to the importance of untold stories both in terms of content and as a way to empower the speaker to address topics that he or she may have otherwise thought were not of interest to the interviewer.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Spousal bereavement can cause a rise in depressive symptoms. This study empirically evaluates 2 competing explanations concerning how this causal effect is brought about: (a) a traditional latent variable explanation, in which loss triggers depression which then leads to symptoms; and (b) a novel network explanation, in which bereavement directly affects particular depression symptoms which then activate other symptoms. We used data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study and compared depressive symptomatology, assessed via the 11-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), among those who lost their partner (N = 241) with a still-married control group (N = 274). We modeled the effect of partner loss on depressive symptoms either as an indirect effect through a latent variable, or as a direct effect in a network constructed through a causal search algorithm. Compared to the control group, widow(er)s' scores were significantly higher for symptoms of loneliness, sadness, depressed mood, and appetite loss, and significantly lower for happiness and enjoyed life. The effect of partner loss on these symptoms was not mediated by a latent variable. The network model indicated that bereavement mainly affected loneliness, which in turn activated other depressive symptoms. The direct effects of spousal loss on particular symptoms are inconsistent with the predictions of latent variable models, but can be explained from a network perspective. The findings support a growing body of literature showing that specific adverse life events differentially affect depressive symptomatology, and suggest that future studies should examine interventions that directly target such symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Social identity in Northern Ireland is multifaceted, with historical, religious, political, social, economic, and psychological underpinnings. Understanding the factors that influence the strength of identity with the Protestant or Catholic community, the two predominate social groups in Northern Ireland, has implications for individual well-being as well as for the continuation of tension and violence in this setting of protracted intergroup conflict. This study examined predictors of the strength of in-group identity in 692 women (mean age 37 years) in post-accord Northern Ireland. For Catholics, strength of in-group identity was positively linked to past negative impact of sectarian conflict and more frequent current church attendance, whereas for Protestants, strength of in-group identity was related to greater status satisfaction regarding access to jobs, standard of living, and political power compared with Catholics; that is, those who felt less relative deprivation. The discussion considers the differences in the factors underlying stronger identity for Protestants and Catholics in this context. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Previous research applying quantifiable measurements has established significant positive associations between social capital and mental health in older adults. This study aimed to obtain a deeper understanding of the causal mechanisms of social capital affecting mental wellbeing among older people. The study is based on two independent qualitative data materials collected through two focus group interviews and an open-ended question included in a Finnish population-based postal survey. The findings indicate that informal social contacts such as family members and life-long relationships between friends impact the experienced mental wellbeing among older adults due to shared life events, social support, mutual appreciation and trust, as well as a sense of belonging through common social activities. Hence, this study challenges Putnam's idea of social capital as a collective concept focusing on formal contacts and the benefits on a collective level. In addition, the findings highlight the obstacles specific to older adults in maintaining social networks and participation, which should be considered in order to promote mental health in later life.
Objectives.We draw on cognitive discrepancy theory to hypothesize and test a pathway from poor health to loneliness in later life. We hypothesize that poor health will have a negative influence on social participation and social resources, and these factors will mediate between health and loneliness. We hypothesize that rural environments will amplify any difficulties associated with social participation or accessing social resources and that depression will moderate how intensely people react to levels of social contact and support.
We conceptualize a mediation model and a moderated-mediation model. Nationally representative data on older people living in the Republic of Ireland are used to validate the hypothesized pathways.
In the mediation model, health has a significant indirect effect on loneliness through the mediating variables social resources and social participation. In the moderated-mediation model, rurality moderates the pathway between health and social resources but not social participation. Depressive symptoms moderate the effect of social resources on loneliness but not social participation.Discussion.The results provide further credence to cognitive discrepancy theory, suggesting that depressive symptoms influence cognitive processes, interfering with judgments about the adequacy of social interaction. The theory is extended by demonstrating the impact of the environment on loneliness.
The social scientific analysis of social class is attracting renewed interest given the accentuation of economic and social inequalities throughout the world. The most widely validated measure of social class, the Nuffield class schema, developed in the 1970s, was codified in the UK’s National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) and places people in one of seven main classes according to their occupation and employment status. This principally distinguishes between people working in routine or semi-routine occupations employed on a ‘labour contract’ on the one hand, and those working in professional or managerial occupations employed on a ‘service contract’ on the other. However, this occupationally based class schema does not effectively capture the role of social and cultural processes in generating class divisions. We analyse the largest survey of social class ever conducted in the UK, the BBC’s 2011 Great British Class Survey, with 161,400 web respondents, as well as a nationally representative sample survey, which includes unusually detailed questions asked on social, cultural and economic capital. Using latent class analysis on these variables, we derive seven classes. We demonstrate the existence of an ‘elite’, whose wealth separates them from an established middle class, as well as a class of technical experts and a class of ‘new affluent’ workers. We also show that at the lower levels of the class structure, alongside an ageing traditional working class, there is a ‘precariat’ characterised by very low levels of capital, and a group of emergent service workers. We think that this new seven class model recognises both social polarisation in British society and class fragmentation in its middle layers, and will attract enormous interest from a wide social scientific community in offering an up-to-date multi-dimensional model of social class.
We examine how the concept of narrative has entered social work over the past 15 years, with special emphasis on research applications. Approaching our task from distinctive standpoints and locations, the article reviews definitions of narrative, criteria for ‘good’ enough narrative research, and patterns in social work journals. Our evaluation uncovered few studies, in contrast to the volume of narrative research in education, nursing and other practicing professions. Three exemplars of narrative inquiry - model research completed by social workers - show the knowledge for practice that can be produced with careful application of narrative methods, in all their diversity. Drawing on our respective locations and experiences, we cautiously suggest some reasons for the paucity of quality research in the USA, and greater representation in Europe.
In the major Dutch cities, social rented housing in post-war neighbourhoods has been demolished and largely replaced by more expensive owner-occupied and rental housing. Through residential mobility, these measures can trigger substantial population changes. This paper studies residents' social capital in two recently restructured neighbourhoods in the city of Rotterdam. It distinguishes between the stayers, movers and newcomers. In a neighbourhood context, social capital refers to the benefit of cursory interactions, shared norms, trust and collective action of residents. Survey data show that social capital is not only an asset of long-term stayers, but that in particular newcomers are relatively rich in social capital. Factors associated with higher levels of social capital are a higher net income, presence of households with children, stronger place attachment, higher perceived neighbourhood quality, homeownership and single-family dwellings. The expected future length of residence in the area appears of little importance for social capital.
Aim of this study was to investigate older adult loneliness as linked with living arrangements and intergenerational support, using data from the Generations and Gender Surveys for East and West European countries. Older adults living alone were most lonely, older adults living with a partner were least lonely. Coresidence provides protection, but not to the same degree as a partner. Intergenational support flows primarily downward. Older adults who were primarily on the receiving side were most lonely, particularly if they were in coresident households. Older adults who were primarily on the giving side were generally least lonely.
This article seeks to contribute to discussions about how narrative analysis might be undertaken. I do this by exploring one method of narrative approach to analyse personal stories. Before considering some of the issues associated with narrative research, I comment on the rise of the ‘narrative moment’. I then provide ways to conceptualize narrative research. In the final part of the discussion, I discuss ways to conduct narrative research. In so doing, I provide concrete details about how personal stories might be analysed line by line.
This paper reports a study of the risk factors for social and emotional loneliness among older people in Ireland. Using the ‘Social and Emotional Scale for Adults’, the social and emotional dimensions of loneliness were measured. Emotional loneliness was conceptualised as having elements of both family loneliness and romantic loneliness. The data were collected through a national telephone survey of loneliness in older people conducted in 2004 that completed interviews with 683 people aged 65 or more years. It was found that levels of social and family loneliness were low, but that romantic loneliness was relatively high. Predictors for social loneliness were identified as greater age, poorer health, living in a rural area, and lack of contact with friends. Living in a rural setting, gender (male), having a lower income, being widowed, no access to transport, infrequent contact with children and relatives and caring for a spouse or relative at home were significant predictors of family loneliness. Romantic loneliness was predicted by marital status, in particular being widowed. Never having married or being divorced or separated were also significant predictors for romantic loneliness. The findings indicate that loneliness for older people is variable, multi-dimensional and experienced differently according to life events, with, for example, the death of a partner being followed by the experience of emotional loneliness, or the loss of friends or declining health leading to social loneliness.
The objective of the paper is to explore narrative foreclosure as a sensitizing concept for studying the ways in which narrative identity development falters in later life. Two main characters in famous movies are contrasted to provide a better understanding of narrative foreclosure. The concept is further clarified by discussing similarities and differences with other theories about lifespan identity development. Last, the concept is related to theories in social gerontology to provide a better understanding of narrative foreclosure in later life.It is concluded that narrative foreclosure can be defined as the conviction that no new interpretations of one's past nor new commitments and experiences in one's future are possible that can substantially change one's life-story. In terms of the metaphor of a book, one is not only convinced about its ending and does not add new chapters anymore, but also refrains from enjoying, rewriting, and editing earlier chapters. Several interpersonal–social and structural–ideological factors are identified that promote narrative foreclosure in later life.Finally it is discussed that the narrative study of later life and of narrative foreclosure in particular, should be conducted in an interdisciplinary framework. Narrative foreclosure only exists within a certain constellation of personal, social, and societal characteristics, drawn together in a mutually dependent system.
Outline of a Theory of Practice is recognized as a major theoretical text on the foundations of anthropology and sociology. Pierre Bourdieu, a distinguished French anthropologist, develops a theory of practice which is simultaneously a critique of the methods and postures of social science and a general account of how human action should be understood. With his central concept of the habitus, the principle which negotiates between objective structures and practices, Bourdieu is able to transcend the dichotomies which have shaped theoretical thinking about the social world. The author draws on his fieldwork in Kabylia (Algeria) to illustrate his theoretical propositions. With detailed study of matrimonial strategies and the role of rite and myth, he analyses the dialectical process of the 'incorporation of structures' and the objectification of habitus, whereby social formations tend to reproduce themselves. A rigorous consistent materialist approach lays the foundations for a theory of symbolic capital and, through analysis of the different modes of domination, a theory of symbolic power.
There is a growing literature demonstrating the health benefits of social capital (defined as the resources accessed through social connections). However, social capital is also acknowledged to be a “double-edged” phenomenon, whose effects on health are not always positive. We sought to systematically review studies that have found a negative (i.e. harmful) association between social capital and health outcomes. Our objective was to classify the different types of negative effects, following a framework originally proposed by Portes (1998).
We conducted a literature search in Pubmed, Embase and PsychInfo. We identified 3530 manuscripts. After detailed review, we included 44 articles in our systematic review. There are at least two negative consequences of social capital besides the classification proposed by Portes: behavioral contagion and cross-level interactions between social cohesion and individual characteristics. When leveraging the concept of social capital for health promotion interventions, researchers need to take account of these potential “downsides” for health outcomes.
Purpose
Loneliness is associated with a variety of physical and mental health problems as well as mortality. In the mental health context, loneliness is sometimes viewed as a symptom of mental disorder rather than a problem in its own right. The aim of this paper is to assess the importance of addressing loneliness amongst mental health service users.
Design/methodology/approach
Narrative overview of current literature on loneliness and health outcomes.
Findings
Loneliness is highly prevalent amongst adults with a variety of different mental health diagnoses in the UK. Loneliness does not appear to be a symptom of mental health conditions themselves, and thus is likely to be either a cause or a consequence of mental ill-health. Lacking good quality social relationships is a risk factor for a wide range of health problems. The evidence for interventions targeting loneliness in different populations is lacking. New interventions and further research to tackle loneliness amongst service users is warranted.
Originality/value
Loneliness has not historically been a key target for intervention within mental health services. This paper collates the evidence base to provide the foundation for a new wave of interventions to target the perceived social isolation of service users.
For many new academics, coming to a decision about which research methodology to employ for their doctoral studies can be daunting. Faced with numerous options, sometimes contradictory advice from experienced scholars and a desire to find the perfect match for a research question, one can find the decision to opt for a particular methodological path a huge step, and it can be hindered by nagging concerns and a lack of academic experience. This article draws together two short pieces of writing from PhD students at Lancaster University, who attended and were inspired by a workshop on narrative methods, led by Professor Catherine Kohler Riessman.
The first piece is a reflective account of why the author was drawn to narrative methods for her research. It explores the impact of charities and how this is articulated qualitatively, within the context of a mixed market approach to welfare and health service provision in the UK. It discusses what she observes to be the parallels between a narrative research approach and her practice as a social worker and details her experience of completing her first narrative interview. The second is about how the author was inspired by the workshop to produce a pilot study on attitudes of male offenders towards violence against women using the narrative approach and including excerpts from his research data. Finally, it draws together their thoughts about the workshop and how they intend to continue working with narratives in their future.
As carers are not singular in their identity, caring is done under very different conditions depending on the resources, abilities, power and status of both the carers and care recipients. There are deep inequalities among carers themselves that reflect and exacerbate inequalities in other social systems. While the gender inequalities in the doing of care work are well recognised in the research literature (Lewis, 1998), there is a need to explore how other differences in social class and family status intersect with gender and determine the conditions of caring.
Service users frequently encounter services at times of personal or family crisis. As a result, all social workers need to be aware of the impact of loss if they are to work effectively. This book looks at theoretical developments surrounding issues of change, loss and grieving, encouraging social workers to explore and reflect on the relevance of such issues to their own practice. Furthermore, the book discusses the potential impact of practitioners' own experiences of loss. Issues are explored with reference to the Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers, National Occupational Standards and examples of interdisciplinary working across contexts.
The growing number of people living in deprived urban neighborhoods, which often have unhealthy environments, is of growing concern to inequality researchers. Social capital could be a resource to help such communities get ahead. In this study, we examined the differential effects of bonding and bridging social capital on self-rated health using two operational definitions, which we call personal and geographic social capital. Bonding and bridging social capital were operationally distinguished as respondents' perceived similarity to other members of a group with respect to personal characteristics (personal social capital) or as structural similarity with respect to geographical location (geographic social capital). The results showed that although both bonding and bridging social capital as defined by person-based criteria were associated with increased odds of self-rated health compared to those who reported zero participation, when defined by place-based criteria, only bridging social capital was associated with increased odds of self-rated health; no clear association was found between health and belonging to groups within the neighborhood, so-called geographic bonding social capital. The present study suggests that geographic bridging social capital can function as linking social capital that enables an upward approach depending on the political and economic contexts of urbanization.
Loneliness is especially frequent among older people in Southern Europe. Furthermore, promoting social capital to tackle loneliness and its health effects is an understudied intervention strategy. Therefore, a complex intervention was piloted in Spain in a pre-post study with a 2-year follow-up. Its aims were to explore the feasibility of the intervention and its short- and long-term effects. It was conducted in one mixed rural-urban and two urban areas of diverse socioeconomic levels from 2011 to 2012. The intervention framework was based on social capital theory applying a behaviour change model and care co-ordination. The intervention comprised: (i) a co-ordinated action aimed at building a network between primary healthcare centres and community assets in the neighbourhood and (ii) a group-based programme, which promoted social capital among lonely older people, especially social support and participation. Older people active in senior centres volunteered as gatekeepers. The main outcome domain was loneliness. Secondary outcome domains were participation, social support, self-perceived health, quality of life, depressive symptoms and use of health resources. Pre-post changes were assessed with t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and McNemar's test. Differences between the three time points were assessed with a one-way ANOVA with repeated measures. Social workers and nurses were successfully involved as group leaders, 10 volunteers took part and 38 participants were included. After the intervention, loneliness decreased while social participation and support significantly increased. Furthermore, the number of visits to nurses increased. Exactly 65.8% of the participants built social contacts within the group and 47.4% became engaged in new activities. Two years later, social effects were maintained and depressive symptoms had decreased. Exactly 44.7% of the participants continued to be in contact with at least one person from the group and 39.5% continued participating. The intervention contributes a novel and feasible social capital-based approach for alleviating loneliness among older adults while prompting meaningful changes in their lives.
Narrative permeates health care-from patients' stories taken as medical histories to the development of health policy. The narrative approach to health care has involved the move from narratives in health care as objects of study to the lens through which health care is studied and, more recently, to narrative as a form of care. In this paper, I argue that narrative care requires a move in the field of ethics-from a position where narratives are used to inform ethical decision making to one in which narrative is the form and process of ethical decision making. In other words, I argue for a narrative ethics for narrative care. The argument is relatively straightforward. If, as I argue, humans are narrative beings who make sense of themselves, others, and the world in and through narrative, we need to see our actions as both narratively based and narratively contextual and thus understanding the nature, form, and content of the narratives of which we are a part, and the process of narrativity, provides an intersubjective basis for ethical action.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The purpose of this study is to explore the roles of psychological attributes (such as shyness and loneliness) and smartphone usage patterns in predicting smartphone addiction symptoms and social capital. Data were gathered from a sample of 414 university students using online survey in Mainland China. Results from exploratory factor analysis identified five smartphone addiction symptoms: disregard of harmful consequences, preoccupation, inability to control craving, productivity loss, and feeling anxious and lost, which formed the Smartphone Addiction Scale. Results show that the higher one scored in loneliness and shyness, the higher the likelihood one would be addicted to smartphone. Furthermore, this study shows the most powerful predictor inversely affecting both bonding and bridging social capital was loneliness. Moreover, this study presents clear evidence that the use of smartphones for different purposes (especially for information seeking, sociability, and utility) and the exhibition of different addiction symptoms (such as preoccupation and feeling anxious and lost) significantly impacted social capital building. The significant links between smartphone addiction and smartphone usage, loneliness, and shyness have clear implications for treatment and intervention for parents, educators, and policy makers. Suggestions for future research are discussed.
Until recently, most studies on social capital and health have been cross-sectional making it difficult to draw causal conclusions. This longitudinal study used data from 33,621 individuals (15,822 men and 17,799 women) from the Västerbotten Intervention Program, to analyze how changes in access to individual social capital influence self-rated health (SRH) over time. Two forms of structural social capital, i.e. informal socializing and social participation, were measured. Age, sex, education, marital status, smoking, snuff, physical activity, alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, and body mass index were analysed as potential confounders. The association between changes in access to structural social capital and SRH in the follow-up was adjusted for SRH at baseline, as well as for changes in the socio-demographic and health-risk variables over time. The results support that changes in access to structural social capital over time impact on SRH. Remaining with no/low level of informal socializing over time increased the odds ratio for poor SRH for both men and women (OR of 1.45; 95%CI=1.22-1.73 among men and OR of 1.56; 95%CI=1.33-1.84 among women). Remaining with no/low levels of social participation was also detrimental to SRH in men and women (OR 1.14; 95%CI=1.03-1.26 among men and OR 1.18; 95%CI=1.08-1.29 among women). A decrease in informal socializing over time was associated with poor SRH for women and men (OR of 1.35; 95%CI=1.16-1.58 among men and OR of 1.57; 95%CI=1.36-1.82 among women). A loss of social participation had a negative effect on SRH among men and women (OR of 1.16; 95%CI=1.03-1.30 among men and OR of 1.15; 95%CI=1.04-1.27 among women). Gaining access to social participation was harmful for SRH for women (OR 1.17; 95%CI=1.05-1.31). Structural social capital has complex and gendered effects on SRH and interventions aiming to use social capital for health promotion purposes require an awareness of its gendered nature.
Social capital has been a popular concept used in research and policy to stress the value of social contacts for the health and well-being of older adults. However, not much is known about the obstacles to and the opportunities for local social contacts in older adults’ everyday lives. In this paper we provide a geographical account of older adults’ social capital, by taking the main context of their daily life, the neighbourhood, into consideration. We draw on semi-structured and walking interviews with 17 older adults living in an urban neighbourhood in the Northern Netherlands in order to illustrate the meanings of, the obstacles to and the opportunities for local social contacts. Our findings show that the neighbourhood is not an isotropic surface where opportunities for developing social capital are evenly distributed. The potential benefits of older adults’ local social contacts differ depending on the place of social interaction within the neighbourhood and expectations associated with these interactions. Furthermore, different time geographies of older and younger residents as well as ageist stereotypes of older adults’ body capital influence the development of social capital in the neighbourhood.
Participation in groups and associations is regarded as one of the key components of social capital. Given the evidence that levels of social capital correlate with levels of health, it is reasonable to assume that participation levels are similarly associated. There is mixed evidence for this. However, most survey research, which forms the bulk of the evidence, takes a rather simplistic view of participation, failing to identify different types that may be presumed to have rather different impacts on health: individual civic participation (voting); organised activities designed to produce local collective benefits, or national benefits (voluntary work, campaigning groups); organised activities designed primarily to produce benefits for members (professional associations); organised leisure activities for the pleasure of members (photography clubs, bird-watching groups); informal leisure activities in groups. Studies also fail to theorise about the pathway from participation to health: participation may help to ensure that local and national government's provide public services that promote health; participation may reduce social isolation and its attendant adverse impact on health; and it may enhance self-efficacy. More sophisticated research methods need to be developed.
In recent decades Michiganders witnessed the fall of the automotive industry, mass layoffs and skyrocketing unemployment. What's more, Michigan's baby boomers will be entering the retirement phase of their life course in the next decade. This paper examines demographic changes in Michigan as the baby boom generation enters retirement and the elderly stages of life, in the context of their expectations and preparedness for these life stages. To conceptualize the consequences of aggregate inequality as experienced in later life, life course theory coupled with cumulative disadvantage theory is used to understand sources of cumulative inequality in later stages of life and how these manifest in issues concerning retirement, socioeconomic status and overall standard of living for the elderly in Michigan compared to the nation as a whole. Economic problems facing Michigan residents and communities today will have an impact on the resources and methods by which they address the demographic changes ahead, including the impact the changing economy and demography will have on public services and policy, largely Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Policymakers, academics, community organizers and activists as well as the families that will become vital networks to the aged should be attuned to the challenges aging Michiganders will encounter in the near future.
Ireland's landscape is marked by fault lines of religious, ethnic, and political identity that have shaped its troubled history. Troubled Geographies maps this history by detailing the patterns of change in Ireland from 16th century attempts to "plant" areas of Ireland with loyal English Protestants to defend against threats posed by indigenous Catholics, through the violence of the latter part of the 20th century and the rise of the "Celtic Tiger." The book is concerned with how a geography laid down in the 16th and 17th centuries led to an amalgam based on religious belief, ethnic/national identity, and political conviction that continues to shape the geographies of modern Ireland. Troubled Geographies shows how changes in religious affiliation, identity, and territoriality have impacted Irish society during this period. It explores the response of society in general and religion in particular to major cultural shocks such as the Famine and to long term processes such as urbanization.
The young people who are the focus of this article grow up in communities ravaged by poverty and conflict. School is where they spend most of their time, but their experience of school is, generally, not motivating and increases their feelings of social exclusion; almost one in ten young people whose family depends on benefits leaves school with no educational qualifications and the future they see is bleak. Small wonder, then, that so many suffer from emotional and mental health problems and engage in self-harming behavior. This article will use qualitative data from two studies carried out over the past 5 years to explore the experiences of young people growing up in poverty in Northern Ireland and look at the extent of their exclusion from the norms of society. It will argue that this exclusion is such that some of them feel “outsiders” even within their own, disadvantaged, community, and this is dangerous in a society which is still emerging from conflict.
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between aspects of social capital and loneliness among the very old living at home and in institutional settings.
Half of those aged 85 years, and all 90- and 95-year-olds and older in urban and rural municipalities in northern Sweden and western Finland were invited to participate in a cross-sectional population-based study in 2005-2007. A sample of 483 participants who completed the study was included in the analyses.
Loneliness was experienced by 55% percent of those living in institutional settings often or sometimes and 45% of those living in their own homes. Loneliness was closely related to living alone, to depression, and to region (northern Sweden).
Social capital and loneliness are context dependent (i.e., geographical or living environment). Among the very old, the link between social capital resources and loneliness is also highly influenced by health status.
Does it matter for my health in which neighborhood I live? The fact is, health is determined not only by individual characteristics but also by the neighborhood in which someone lives. This thesis shows that health clusters in Dutch neighborhoods and that this is not only a composition effect (that people with healthy characteristics cluster into one neighborhood and unhealthy people cluster in another neighborhood) but also a context effect. In addition to traditional explanations for this cluster, this thesis studies mainly the effects and conditions of neighborhood social capital on individual health. Neighborhood social capital can be defined as the access to resources which are generated by relationships between people in a friendly, well-connected and tightly knit community. Is the health of an individual actually affected by neighborhood social capital? If so, under which conditions is health affected most? And how can this association be explained?
This dissertation is the first work that tests the effect of neighborhood social capital on individual health in a multilevel design while using data representative for a whole country (The Netherlands) and a number of control variables for both levels.
The results of this dissertation showed a stable association between neighborhood social capital and health. The more neighborhood social capital, the better individual health was, independent of control variables for both individual and neighborhood levels of social capital as well as independent of individual-level social capital. Interestingly, people in urban areas report on average worse health and less social capital than people in rural areas; however, the neighborhood social capital does relate to their health, while it is not associated with the health of ‘rural’ people. A main finding of this dissertation is that individual health can be enhanced through neighborhood social capital without contacts with specific others. Furthermore, the results show that neighborhood social capital is especially valuable for people with low non-local individual-level social capital. Next, the results of this dissertation indicated that longer exposure to social capital is not necessarily better – the association is curvilinear. Finally, this dissertation presents one out of five possible health-related behaviors as a significant mediating factor for the association between neighborhood social capital and individual health. Several behaviors were tested: non-smoking, moderate alcohol intake, nutrition habits, sleep habits, and physical activity. Only physical activity significantly attenuated the association between neighborhood social capital and self-rated health.
This dissertation aimed to clarify conditions and mechanisms of a health improving factor, with the goal that its results could be used by policymakers and neighborhood workers. These people often have to argue that neighborhood work matters. The difficult part is not only arguing that the context neighborhood matters but also that the people living in the neighborhoods and their interrelation matter.
The social research organisation, Mass-Observation, which operated between 1937 and 1950, recruited volunteer writers to join a `panel' to record aspects of their everyday life in Britain during those years. In 1981, the Archive which houses that material (diaries, detailed questionnaire replies) initiated a revival of the panel. This article describes this revival and argues that the contemporary writing for the Archive can be considered a form of autobiography, providing the definition of autobiography is broadly defined to include a wide variety of forms of self-expression and writings about self in a social context. Furthermore, the desire to be a contemporary Mass-Observer demands that a new genre be forged which draws on the writer's experience of other similar forms of written expression and which evolves as a result of a process of negotiation within a specific relationship with the Archive.
This article attempts to generate a new understanding of economic change and household responses in Mexico. It reflects on the changing conditions of survival and reproduction among the Mexican urban working poor in a socioeconomic context of diminishing income-generating opportunities. The author argues that rising poverty has had serious effects on dimensions (beyond economic) of the lives of the poor—in particular, the erosion of the capacity of the poor to maintain networks of social exchange. The author strongly argues in favor of diachronic analyses of economic transformations and their impact on household dynamics to capture social and family processes that are not fully understood by synchronic views of household life and livelihoods. The diachronic view allowed the author to show the limits of the strategies of survival and the inadequate explanations resulting from views that uncritically assume the endlessness of resources in the hands of the poor.
Studies of residential segregation in Northern Ireland have traditionally focused on historical accounts of its development, geographic measures of spatial distance and on ethnographic descriptions of enclaved communities. Analysis of the quantity, meaning and development of religiously integrated housing has received comparatively scant attention from academics and policy-makers. This paper reviews the extent of integrated housing, how it has been maintained in the social rented sector and looks at the possibilities for developing it as a specific policy objective. The paper concludes by suggesting that retarding sustained rates of segregation could connect housing in Northern Ireland to the task of closing social distance, equality and embedding the transition to post-conflict stability.
Previous research has shown that exchanges of support within social networks reduce
the loneliness of older adults. However, there is no consistent evidence on how types
of support (instrumental and emotional) and the direction of that support (giving
and receiving) are related to loneliness, and whether the effects are culture-specific.
The aim of this study was to investigate support exchanges and their effects on
loneliness in Spain and the Netherlands. We suggest that cultural differences, such as
more interdependent cultural values in Southern Europe and more independencerelated
values in Northern Europe, influence social realities such as the social support
exchanged. In Spain relationships with family members are determined by mutual
obligations; older people expect to receive instrumental support from them.
However, in Northern Europe independence is highly valued and intimacy and
closeness are shown primarily by confiding about personal matters. This paper
examined data from two comparable surveys, one in Spain (N=646) and one in the
Netherlands (N=656). Older adults in Spain provide for, and receive, high amounts
of instrumental support and this proved to be a protective factor against loneliness.
An alternative pattern was found in the Netherlands where respondents provided
more and received more emotional support than Spanish older adults; emotional
support is a protective factor in the Netherlands (but only for support received).
Given the well-established benefits of social integration for physical and mental health, studies have begun to explore how access to social ties and social support may be shaped by the residential context in which people live. As a critical health exposure, social integration may be one important mechanism by which places affect health. This paper brings together research on two previously studied contextual determinants of social integration. Specifically, we use multi-level data from the Chicago Community Adult Health Survey to investigate the relationships between an individual's length of residence and measures of social integration. We then investigate the extent to which these relationships are moderated by neighborhood poverty. We find that the relationship between length of residence and some measures of social integration are stronger in poor neighborhoods than in more affluent ones.
This paper illustrates the development of a theoretical model of how aspects of a woman's sense of identity can be transformed during the transition to motherhood. The study is idiographic and primarily qualitative and is grounded in the detailed case-studies of 4 women (aged 25–29 yrs) going through the transition, prioritizing their own accounts of the experience. The study employs an interpretive phenomenological analysis of interviews, diaries, and repertory grids. This paper presents a processual model of the transition. Key components of the model attend to the women's perceptions of their social roles. The model suggests that during pregnancy a women's focus may turn from the public world of work towards the more local world of family and friends. This shift may help with the woman's preparation for the new role she is taking on and may furthermore contribute to a transformation of the woman's subsequent life plans. Examples from the women's accounts illustrate each component of the model. The theoretical model is then discussed in relation to the existing literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
How can the ‘social capital’ inherent in social networks provide contacts through which older people access practical and emotional support? What is the relative importance of kin and non-kin, and of participation in organisations and informal ties such as contacts with neighbours? Following a brief contextualisation that draws on previous literature, this paper addresses these questions through analysis of British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) data. It examines the extent to which people feel they can count on emotional and practical support from friends and relatives. A dependent variable was created that measures the outcome of the ‘social capital’ residing in a respondent's social network. Relatively poor support was found amongst elders who were childless or had been continuously without a partner; relatively rich support was found amongst those who had frequent contact with other people, who interacted frequently with neighbours, and who regarded their neighbourhood as a positive social environment. Being active in organisations had less effect on social support than informal social contacts. Amongst many different forms of organisational activity, the only ones that had a positive association with social support were being in contact with others through religious activities, and engaging in sports clubs. The social support of working-class elders, even those ‘well networked’ in formal or informal ways, was strengthened less by their social capital than was that of the professional and managerial occupational groups.
Is religious involvement positively associated with having influential friends or is religious involvement unrelated to this kind of social capital? Building on the distinction between the “bonding” and “bridging” aspects of social capital, I distinguish two kinds of bridging social capital—identity-bridging and status-bridging—that have been a source of terminological confusion. I examine the relationship between religious involvement and status-bridging social capital by analyzing data from a large nationally representative survey of the U.S. adult population that included questions about friendships with elected public officials, corporation executives, scientists, and persons of wealth. The data show that membership in a religious congregation and holding a congregational leadership position are most consistently associated with greater likelihood of having these kinds of friendships. The data also show that frequency of religious attendance is largely unrelated to these measures of social capital and that there are some significant variations among religious traditions and size of congregation.