Loneliness among the oldest old, a comparison between residents living in nursing homes and residents living in the community

Two groups of individuals, eighty years of age or older, were compared with respect to the experience of loneliness and the influence of social relationships. One group was living in nursing homes. The other group was living alone in their own homes in the community. There were no significant differences in experienced loneliness between residents with close contacts with members of family and friends compared to residents without such contacts in either of the two groups, with one exception: institutional residents with existing contacts with former neighbors reported significantly lower levels of loneliness compared to institutional residents without such contacts. Frequency of contacts with family and neighbors did not influence significantly the degree of loneliness for residents in institutions. For residents in the community there were significant differences in experienced loneliness between those who had frequent contacts with family members and neighbors and those with infrequent contacts. Institutional residents, like residents in the community who desired more frequent contacts with family members and friends, reported higher levels of loneliness, compared to those who reported sufficient contacts.