Description
This research programme has four work packages (WPs) and takes a holistic approach to loneliness to support ageing with mental health, equality, social participation, and dignity. Among older adults, the programme aims to:
- examine inequalities in risk factors and consequences of loneliness, with a focus on causal associations between loneliness, mental health and care use (WP1)
- analyse mental health consequences of widowhood (a life event that is an established risk factor of loneliness) for the whole and subgroups of the older population (WP1)
- explore individual subjective experiences of loneliness from a life course perspective (WP2)
- explore the relationship between loneliness and mental health from a life course perspective (WP2)
- develop an instrument to assess loneliness for use by practitioners (WP2)
- create a loneliness literacy training programme for care professionals (WP3)
- explore what can be done to enhance the recognition and response of care professionals to loneliness (WP4)
In WP1, panel studies will be combined with register data to examine inequalities in loneliness and its causal associations with mental health and care use.
In WP2, older adults’ experiences of loneliness and mental health will be explored in interviews, which will also support the development of an instrument to assess loneliness.
In WP3, researchers and care professionals will co-design a loneliness literacy training programme to improve care professionals’ competencies to address loneliness.
WP4 integrates research across WPs, embeds it in practice and promotes dissemination of findings. Workshops with stakeholders will explore how to enhance care professionals’ response to loneliness.
The research programme is conducted in collaboration between Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet/Stockholm University and Dalarna University. A reference group with representatives of civil society organisations and authorities and an international academic reference group are linked to the programme.
Stakeholder reference group
- Johanna Nordin, MIND
- Zarah Melander, The Swedish Partnership for Mental Health (NSPH)
- Carina Benjaminsson, The Swedish National Pensioners’ Organisation (PRO)
- Marie Louise Söderberg, The Swedish Association for Senior Citizens (SPF Seniorerna)
- Jan Sjögerud, The Swedish Church
- Nina Sagovinter, The Swedish Church
- Jeanette Hjortsberg, Region Dalarna
- Tereza Keprdova, Kristianstad local authority
- Liberta Mehmedi, Sollentuna local authority
- Karin Stenberg, Sollentuna local authority
- Caroline Helenius, Sollentuna local authority
- Sara Fritzell, The Public Health Agency of Sweden
- Marjan Vaez, The Public Health Agency of Sweden
- Vera Gustafsson, The National Board of Health and Welfare
Academic reference group
- Research Professor Marja Aartsen, OsloMet, Norway
- Honorary Senior Research Fellow Christopher Gilleard, University College London, UK
- Professor Martijn Huisman, Vrije University, Netherlands
- Dr Oliver Huxhold, German Centre of Gerontology, Germany
- Senior Researcher Giovanni Lamura, Italy's National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, Italy
- Assistant professor Andrea de Winter, University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands
Financiers
Selected publications
- Dahlberg, L., von Saenger, I., Naseer, M., Lennartsson, C., & Agahi, N. (2024). National trends in loneliness and social isolation in older adults: An examination of subgroup trends over three decades in Sweden. Frontiers in Public Health, 12. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1444990
- Maura, G., Blotiere, P. O., Wastesson, J. W., & Johnell, K. (2024). Spousal bereavement and four-year trajectories of medication use: A nationwide register-based study in Swedish older adults. Journal of American Geriatric Society, 72(7), 2048-2059. doi:10.1111/jgs.18950