Role of Meaningful Social Participation and Technology Use in Mitigating Loneliness and Cognitive Decline Among Older Adults.

Importance: Community social participation aids dementia prevention and alleviates loneliness among older adults. Incorporating occupational therapy using information and communications technology (ICT) could potentially delay dementia onset and reduce loneliness. Objective: To quantify how meaningf...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:American Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 78; no. 6; pp. 1 - 10
Autores principales: Nakahara, Keita, Yokoi, Katsushi
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: American Occupational Therapy Association Nov/Dec2024
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=181412819&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 181412819
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        02729490
        44I
      jtl: American Journal of Occupational Therapy
      issn: 02729490
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Nov/Dec2024
      vid: 78
      iid: 6
      pid: 6680
      pub: American Occupational Therapy Association
      place: North Bethesda, Maryland
    artinfo:
      ui:
        181412819
        181412819
        181412819
        10.5014/ajot.2024.050794
        181412819
      ppf: 1
      ppct: 9
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
      tig:
        atl: Role of Meaningful Social Participation and Technology Use in Mitigating Loneliness and Cognitive Decline Among Older Adults.
      aug:
        au:
          Nakahara, Keita
          Yokoi, Katsushi
        affil: Keita Nakahara, MS, OTR, is PhD Candidate, Graduate School of Rehabilitation Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan, and Assistant Professor, Department of Rehabilitation, Kansai University of Welfare Sciences, Osaka, Japan
      sug:
        subj:
          Cognition Disorders Prevention and Control
          Social Participation In Old Age
          Information Technology Utilization
          Loneliness Prevention and Control
          Social Behavior
          Social Networks
          Cognition In Old Age
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Aged
          Aged, 80 and Over
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Questionnaires
          Leisure Activities
          Japan
          Descriptive Statistics
          Structural Equation Modeling
          Bivariate Statistics
          Goodness of Fit Chi Square Test
          Confidence Intervals
          Data Analysis Software
          Interpersonal Relations
          Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale
          Scales
          Psychological Tests
          Funding Source
          Aged: 65+ years
          Aged, 80 & over
          Male
          Female
      ab: Importance: Community social participation aids dementia prevention and alleviates loneliness among older adults. Incorporating occupational therapy using information and communications technology (ICT) could potentially delay dementia onset and reduce loneliness. Objective: To quantify how meaningful social participation, participation frequency, ICT use, and expanded social networks influence cognitive function and loneliness among socially active older Japanese adults. Design: Cross-sectional exploratory study using structural equation modeling. Setting: Meetings organized by older adults at seven community gathering places in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Participants: One hundred thirteen healthy older adult cohort members. Measures: Cognitive function assessed via Mini-Cog; loneliness assessed via the condensed UCLA Loneliness Scale. Results: The final model demonstrated excellent fit, χ2(23) = 28.291, p =.205 (root mean square error of approximation =.045, 90% confidence interval [.000,.094]; confirmatory factor index =.995; Tucker–Lewis Index =.993). ICT use directly affected social networks (β = 0.472), which directly influenced participation frequency (β = 0.324) and meaningful social participation (β = 0.381). The indirect effect of meaningful participation significantly improved cognitive function (β = 0.237). The only indirect effect of meaningful interpersonal participation was a reduction in loneliness (β = −0.235). Conclusions and Relevance: ICT use contributes to the expansion of social networks among elderly people. Furthermore, the frequency of social participation and the meaningfulness of such participation are related to reduction in loneliness and maintenance of cognitive function. Although the frequency of social participation was not directly related to these outcomes, the results suggest that meaningful social participation may play an important role in reducing loneliness and maintaining cognitive function. Plain-Language Summary: The promotion of social participation among older people is a global phenomenon, driven by the recognition of its positive relationship with cognitive function and the alleviation of loneliness. Nevertheless, older people's social participation is constrained by a combination of physical and social factors. To address this issue, there has been a push to promote social participation based on information and communications technology (ICT). However, no specific study has been conducted on occupational therapists' perspective in capturing social participation and the use of ICT. The findings of this study show that using ICT has the potential to enhance opportunities for social interaction for older adults, thereby improving the quality and quantity of social participation. The quality of social participation was identified as the sole factor that had a positive impact on cognitive function and loneliness. This study suggests the need for occupational therapists to consider means of facilitating the use of ICTs among older adults as well as interventions that use occupational therapy theory to enhance the meaningfulness of existing social participation opportunities. This study found that using information and communications technology has the potential to enhance opportunities for older adults' social interaction, thereby improving the quality and quantity of social participation.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N