Daily interactions with friends, even through something as simple as a text message, may reduce momentary loneliness for caregivers tending to a family member with dementia.<\/p>\n
Providing care for a loved one with dementia can be a difficult burden to bear, and caregivers can be especially vulnerable to loneliness. But social interactions, no matter how small, with friends and other family members can lower feelings of loneliness.<\/p>\n
Crystal Ng, a research fellow at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, and colleagues studied 223 dementia caregivers, who reported their social interactions and loneliness every three hours over five days-showing that when caregivers interacted with friends, they also reported lower levels of loneliness.<\/p>\n
The study, which appears in the Journal of Gerontology, was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the Michigan Center on the Demography of Aging.<\/p>\n
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We found that caregivers reported having interactions with friends in more than 20% of their waking survey prompts. And these interactions, particularly positive ones, even with not-so-close friends, are related to lower momentary loneliness in daily life.”<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\nCrystal\u00a0Ng, research fellow, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research<\/p>\n
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According to Ng, the effect was particularly pronounced among caregivers with particularly difficult care responsibilities, or “high-burden” caregivers.<\/p>\n
“Interacting with friends appears to be particularly important for high-burden caregivers, and that could be the case because higher-burden caregivers are more at risk of being socially isolated and feeling lonely,” she said.<\/p>\n
Previous studies have asked caregivers to rate their loneliness over a period in the past, perhaps a week or a month, but, according to Ng, a more in-the-moment approach to data collection provides a more dynamic and accurate picture.<\/p>\n
“This study captured the dynamic fluctuations of loneliness,” she said. “We are not treating loneliness as a personality trait, but as something that fluctuates throughout the day.<\/p>\n
“Sending a text to a friend or making the time to get in touch with them can make caregivers feel less lonely and foster a sense of connection amid the burden of dementia. Interventions that encourage caregivers to schedule social interactions with friends in daily life can give them a much-needed emotional lift.”<\/p>\n
U-M co-authors include: Angela Turkelson, Anna Kratz and Kira Birditt.<\/p>\n
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