Loneliness and Social Isolation in Old Age (Aging and Mental Health Research)

This book is a seminal guide to loneliness and social isolation in old age, providing a comprehensive overview of the important correlates of socioeconomic, health and lifestyle factors upon loneliness and social isolation in old age.

Bringing together contributions from leading authorities, the book showcases expertise from, among other things, medicine, psychology, epidemiology, sociology, economics and gerontology. It shows the importance of identifying factors associated with loneliness and social isolation among older adults from a broader perspective, and includes discussion of a range of topics including income poverty, physical activity, family care and frailty. The chapters are evidence-based and offer a mix of empirical studies as well as reviews of international research. The book also discusses policy implications and provides an overview of nationally representative cohort studies around the world available to researchers quantifying loneliness or social isolation.

This book is unique in examining loneliness and social isolation from such wide-ranging perspectives and will be essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students in the areas of e.g., mental health research, social work, and psychiatry. Health professionals involved with gerontology and geriatrics will also find this book of benefit.

With the exception of Chapter 17, the Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

André Hajek is Professor for Interdisciplinary Health Care Epidemiology, Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.

Steffi G. Riedel-Heller is Professor of Social Medicine and Public Health, and Director of the Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), University of Leipzig, Germany.

Hans-Helmut König is Professor of Health Services Research and Health Economics, and Director of the Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.