Combating Loneliness in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a Volunteer-Based Program in Greece

Marianna Balta; Konstantinos Katsas; Chrysoula Grigoropoulou; Dimitrios V Diamantis; Dimitrios Kalogiannis; Nikolaos Drougos; Eleni Fagogeni; Afroditi Veloudaki; Demosthenes Panagiotakos; Athena Linos

doi:10.3390/bs13100804

Combating Loneliness in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a Volunteer-Based Program in Greece

Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 Sep 27;13(10):804. doi: 10.3390/bs13100804.

Affiliations

¹ PROLEPSIS Civil Law Non-Profit Organization of Preventive Environmental and Occupational Medicine, 7 Fragoklisias Street, 151 25 Marousi, Greece.
² Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece.
³ School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 70 El. Venizelou Ave., 176 70 Athens, Greece.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the feeling of loneliness, especially among older adults. This study aims to investigate any association between COVID-19 cases in Greece and the number of Loneliness Helpline calls at the Friendship at Every Age program and to assess whether the interconnection part of the program, which interconnects older adults with volunteers, can combat loneliness/social isolation in older adults. This is a supportive, volunteer-based, social intervention program. A total of 4033 calls were collected from July 2020 to November 2022, in Greece. Older adults who participated in the interconnection part completed baseline (n = 275) and follow-up questionnaires (n = 168), including the UCLA Loneliness Scale. A time-series analysis revealed a positive association in the number of calls with COVID-19 cases (Incidence Rate Ratio per 100 new COVID-19 cases = 1.012; Confidence Interval (95% CI) [1.002, 1.022]). A significant decrease in the Loneliness Scale was observed at follow-up [difference = -0.85; 95% CI (-1.16, -0.54)], with similar results by sex, educational level, and area of living. Loneliness Helpline calls increased during COVID-19 outbreaks, while the interconnection part had a positive impact on older adults, reducing their feeling of loneliness. Similar initiatives are required to better address the needs of the ageing population during and after health crises.

Keywords: COVID-19; helpline; loneliness; older adults; pandemic; social isolation; volunteering.

Grants and funding

The founding donor of the Friendship at Every Age program is TIMA Charitable Foundation. The program was also financially supported by NN Hellas, Structure to support social cohesion actions and development intervention—“Social Network Attica”, Attica Operational program 2014–2020, the Region of Central Greece, LAMDA Development, AEGEAS Non-Profit Civil Company, EUROBANK and Délifrance Hellas, mentioned by descending order of contribution. The authors received no external funding to compile this publication.