Loneliness In The Elderly Essay

Loneliness is a subjective, negative feeling related to the person's own experience of deficient social relations. There is the number of factors that have been contributed to enhancing the risk of experiencing loneliness among elder people. Loneliness is common in older people and is associated with adverse health consequences, both from a mental and physical health point of view. The essay will discuss different causes of loneliness among older people and its impacts on their physical and psychological health. This essay will further discuss prevalence and symptoms of loneliness in elder people.
Causes of Loneliness
There is the number of factors that have been contributed to enhancing risk of experiencing loneliness among elder people. Some of these reasons are related to life events,

When older people reach at the age of 80 years or above, the arrangement of living changes to living alone from living in the couple. Living and housing arrangement effects on socialization, which makes older people participate less in social activities (Havens 2014).
The built environment is another important factor of loneliness. According to the (Victor 2012), Lack of suitable and affordable housing facilities or absence of affordable or accessible transportation will create a negative impact on the participation which leads to loneliness.
Moreover, living with poor health is also considered as the probable cause of increased loneliness. Poor health includes mental as well as physical health. Age-related diseases like loss of autonomy, fear of falling, incontinence are also recognized as causes for loneliness. Prevalence of Isolation and loneliness are higher in older adults with chronic conditions. Insufficient health care services or having limited access to these services have also been recognized as factors for elder people to become isolated or lonely (Bekhet, & Zauszniewski, 2012)