Social Isolation and Patient Experience in Older Adults

The Article in Brief

Social Isolation and Patient Experience in Older Adults

Shunichi Fukuhara , and colleagues

Background Social isolation has been shown to have negative effects on health. This study explores the relationship between social isolation and the experience of elderly patients in primary care.

What This Study Found Among older people, social isolation is associated with a negative experience as a primary care patient. A cross-sectional study in 28 primary care practices in Japan utilized screening tools to assess social isolation and patients' experiences of key domains of primary care: first contact, in which the primary care clinician is the patient's usual entry point into the health care system; longitudinality or duration of the patient-physician relationship; coordination of care by the primary care clinician; comprehensiveness of services available and provided; and community orientation of care. Among 465 patients age 65 years or older, social isolation was negatively associated with overall primary care assessment scores and was significantly associated with longitudinality, comprehensiveness of services provided, and community orientation. Comprehensiveness of services provided had the strongest association with social isolation.

Implications

• These findings, the authors suggest, can contribute to our understanding of how social isolation influences health.
• The authors call for targeted interventions for socially isolated elderly patients aimed at improving their experience of primary care.