Intervention programs aimed at reducing social isolation

I have been serving on a committee that is focused on reducing isolation and loneliness in my town. The work is slow and difficult but very rewarding. There are many groups addressing this issue in the larger community and they all believe they are doing a good job. One of the issues that I found interesting was the idea that our group would steal funding from them. Dealing with seniors is a very competitive business as the government talks about how much it wants to solve the problem but it does not put any money into solutions. Or if it does the government makes the charity groups fight each other for the few dollars they give out, which is in my mind, counterproductive.

What I did find out is that the most common type of program aimed at reducing social isolation and loneliness found in my community was a type of peer (volunteer) helping/ visiting outreach model. Several examples of these types of programs are ones that involve peer support groups and programs that recruit seniors to volunteer with other populations such as children.

While our group is moving forward albeit slowly we realize that when we are planning interventions for socially isolated and lonely seniors a good understanding of the target group, or of an individual’s need for acceptance and social support is necessary before employing we suggest interventions.

I believe that feeling supported is, in fact, an outcome the caring interpersonal transactions among individuals who trust each other and that is seen in the successful interventions we have looked at since we started back in July.