Understanding Social and Emotional Loneliness among Black Older Adults: A Scoping Review.

Black older adults' (BOAs) experience of loneliness differs from other ethnic groups because of the disproportionate disadvantages faced across their life course. This scoping review aimed to describe the range of research on loneliness or subjective social isolation among BOAs, identifying the contributing factors to loneliness in this population, based on Weiss' Social provision Framework. Of the 15,345 initial retrieved citations from seven databases and corporate websites, we included 27 studies conducted in the USA, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Uganda. Studies reporting on BOAs' experience of loneliness focused on the influence of attachment, social integration, opportunity for nurturance, reassurance of worth, guidance, socio-economic factors, health-related factors and behaviors, and technology, media device possession and usage. There is a need for future studies to identify which social provisions (when targeted) could reduce loneliness, allowing clinicians to develop relevant interventions.

Describing reasons for loneliness among older people in Nigeria.

The rural-urban migration of family members often leads to a higher probability of older people living alone, and minimizes family/social networks, which increases old age loneliness. In this study, we describe the existence of loneliness among older adults in Nigeria and its factors, aiming to inform the development of interventions for reducing old age loneliness. We adopted a descriptive phenomenological approach to the qualitative design, purposefully selecting and conducting face-to-face interviews with 12 older adults aged 58-88. We analyzed the data using a Thematic Analysis. Results of the analysis revealed three major themes: perception and existence of loneliness, factors for loneliness, and context-dependent coping strategies. We described results based on the theory of interactionist perspectives of loneliness and drew policy implications from this. Participants drew interesting associations between loneliness, decreasing family/social networks, recent family ties structures, disability-associated ageing, and lack of social programs, and suggested context-dependent coping strategies to reduce loneliness.