Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5678065 | Atención Primaria | 2016 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
Loneliness and social isolation are emerging health conditions in the elderly population, in particular widows, high frequency users of health services and those with chronic problems and depression. Loneliness is the subjective feeling of having less affection and closeness than that desired in the intimate or relational field. Social isolation is an objective situation of having minimal contact with other people. Its contribution to increased morbidity and mortality is comparable to other well known risk factors that we deal with daily as Primary Care teams. Strategies to identify these problems in our patients and to perform scientific evidence based studies at individual and community level in cooperation with other community resources and interventions are discussed. The Primary Care team must promote the autonomy of these patients, facilitating their sociability, and act on their social maladaptive thoughts that hinder their social integration.
Keywords
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Medicine and Dentistry (General)
Authors
Joan Gené-Badia, Marina Ruiz-Sánchez, Núria Obiols-Masó, Laura Oliveras Puig, Elena Lagarda Jiménez,