Effectiveness of nature-based group intervention in loneliness and health-related quality-of-life in lonely older adults living in assisted living facilities—a randomised controlled trial.
Introduction Nature experienced with peers may mitigate the harmful outcomes of loneliness on health and wellbeing. The H2020 RECETAS 'Friends in Nature (FiN)-Helsinki' group intervention for lonely older adults in Helsinki assisted living facilities (ALFs) aimed to investigate the effects on partic...
| Publicado en: | Age & Ageing Vol. 55; no. 2; pp. 1 - 15 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Oxford University Press / USA
Feb2026
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=192513138&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 192513138 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00020729 AGA jtl: Age & Ageing issn: 00020729 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Feb2026 vid: 55 iid: 2 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 192513138 10.1093/ageing/afag009 ppf: 1 ppct: 14 formats: tig: atl: Effectiveness of nature-based group intervention in loneliness and health-related quality-of-life in lonely older adults living in assisted living facilities—a randomised controlled trial. aug: au: Pitkälä, Kaisu H Rautiainen, Laura Kautiainen, Hannu Aalto, Ulla L Kolster, Annika Laakkonen, Marja-Liisa Partonen, Timo Roitto, Hanna-Maria Puntscher, Sibylle Rochau, Ursula affil: Department of General Practice and Primary Healthcare, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, FinlandUnit of Primary Care, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland Department of General Practice and Primary Healthcare, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, FinlandFinnish Association for the Welfare of the Older People, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland Department of Geriatrics, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Department of General Practice and Primary Healthcare, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, FinlandHealth Services, Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County, Espoo, Uusimaa, Finland Department of General Practice and Primary Healthcare, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland Department of Healthcare and Social Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland Faculty of Medicine, Clinicum, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, FinlandDepartment of Geriatrics, HUS Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Uusimaa, FinlandDepartment of Public Health, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland Institute of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment, Department of Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment, UMIT TIROL, University for Health Sciences and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Tirol, Austria su: Ecology Health status indicators Self-efficacy Evaluation of human services programs Sex distribution Loneliness Psychological well-being Randomized controlled trials Age distribution Social context Quality of life Congregate housing Social support Psychological tests Group process Social participation Psychosocial factors Old age Statistical power analysis Research funding Statistical sampling Frail elderly Multiple regression analysis Naturopathy Descriptive statistics Confidence intervals Comparative studies Data analysis software sug: subj: Ecology Health status indicators Self-efficacy Evaluation of human services programs Sex distribution Loneliness Psychological well-being Randomized controlled trials Age distribution Social context Quality of life Congregate housing Social support Psychological tests Group process Social participation Psychosocial factors Old age Community care facilities for the elderly Continuing Care Retirement Communities Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling Other Individual and Family Services Statistical power analysis Research funding Statistical sampling Frail elderly Multiple regression analysis Naturopathy Descriptive statistics Confidence intervals Comparative studies Data analysis software keyword: assisted living facilities assisted living facility copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 finland frail elderly health-related quality of life https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag009 inLanguage:en loneliness nature-based intervention older adult older people publisher:Oxford University Press randomised controlled trial randomization sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41638234/ social prescribing assisted living facilities assisted living facility copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 finland frail elderly health-related quality of life https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag009 inLanguage:en loneliness nature-based intervention older adult older people publisher:Oxford University Press randomised controlled trial randomization sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41638234/ social prescribing ab: Introduction Nature experienced with peers may mitigate the harmful outcomes of loneliness on health and wellbeing. The H2020 RECETAS 'Friends in Nature (FiN)-Helsinki' group intervention for lonely older adults in Helsinki assisted living facilities (ALFs) aimed to investigate the effects on participants' loneliness and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We also examined factors influencing effects between the intervention and the outcomes. Methods Lonely participants were recruited from 22 ALFs in Helsinki area, Finland and randomised into two groups: (i) nature-based group intervention once a week for 9 weeks (n = 162) and (ii) usual care (n = 157). Loneliness (modified De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale = mDJGLS) and HRQoL (15D) were assessed as the primary outcomes at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months. Results Most participants (mean age 83 years, 73% women) were living with frailty (66%) and had dementia (55%). Whilst loneliness was reduced in the intervention group at three months (mean change −2.2 points [95% confidence interval (CI) −3.5 to −0.9] in mDJGLS, it remained at baseline level amongst controls (mean change −0.1 (95% CI −1.4 to 0.9); P = .025 between groups). During the 6- and 12-month follow-ups the difference was reduced. No difference emerged between groups in changes of HRQoL according to the 15D. However, the 'sleep' dimension in 15D improved in the intervention relative to controls during the 12-month follow-up. Frequent attendance in group sessions and extended time spent outdoors affected effects on both HRQoL and loneliness. High self-efficacy at baseline influenced effect on both HRQoL and mDJGLS. Being male, <85 years old, non-frail, having Mini-Mental-State Examination >20 and exhibiting a high Nature Connection Index at baseline influenced the magnitude of effect in reducing loneliness. Conclusions Group intervention with nature contacts had favourable effects on loneliness and sleep amongst physically and cognitively frail, lonely older adults in ALFs. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov , ID: NCT05507684. Registration 19/08/2022. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|