RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Determinants of Loneliness Trajectory Following a Brief Storytelling Intervention about COVID Pandemic Grief
JF The Annals of Family Medicine
JO Ann Fam Med
FD American Academy of Family Physicians
SP 5276
DO 10.1370/afm.22.s1.5276
VO 21
IS Supplement 3
A1 Gramling, Bob
A1 Reblin, Maija
A1 Brown, Greg
A1 Garrido, Matilda
A1 Rizzo, Donna
A1 Grenon, Katherine Ekstrom
A1 Manetta, Emily
A1 Arnoldy, Francesca
A1 Dewoolkar, Advik
A1 Cannizzaro, Michael
YR 2023
UL http://www.annfammed.org/content/21/Supplement_3/5276.abstract
AB Context: Loneliness has profound implications for individuals’ well-being and a massive impact on public health. COVID-19 social distancing policies exacerbated the prevalence and depth of loneliness, particularly relating to experiences of death and loss.Objective: To describe the short-term impact of a scalable, conversational storytelling intervention on self-reported loneliness on those experiencing grief during the COVID-19 pandemic.Study Design and Analysis: Single-arm, two-week pre-post analysis.Setting or Dataset: StoryListening Project telehealth-delivered intervention with national recruitment.Population Studied: Family (n=36), friends (n=12) and clinicians (n=16) who experienced the death of a person from any cause during social distancing policies of the COVID-19 pandemic.Intervention/Instrument: Single televideo encounter with an interventionist who successfully completed an end-of-life doula training program as well as study-specific StoryListening training. The StoryListening protocol is grounded in holding space and bearing witness to stories without judgment or expectation.Outcome Measures: Pre-post change in average three-item UCLA Loneliness Score at two-week followup.Results: Of the 60 participants (94%) completing the follow-up asessment, we found a 0.4 point (d=0.31) mean reduction in loneliness (95% CI: 0.1, 0.7). The magnitude of improvement was stronger among friends/family compared to clinicians and demonstrated a graded response with tertiles Story Listening encounter duration. Participants telling the longest stories (48 min. or longer) experienced 3.5 times the odds (95% CI: 1.1, 10.7) of improvement in loneliness compared to those telling shorter stories.Conclusions: A single event, doula-led StoryListening telehealth intervention is associated with reduction in loneliness. The duration of the storytelling experience demonstrates a graded association with loneliness reduction.