Social support and resilience had emerged as key concepts during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is limited research on programs for older adults living alone. The purpose of this study was to develop a social support and resilience enhancement progr...
Social support and resilience had emerged as key concepts during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is limited research on programs for older adults living alone. The purpose of this study was to develop a social support and resilience enhancement program for the elderly living alone and to examine its effectiveness. The study subjects were 38 elderly people living alone recruited from a Senior Welfare Center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. The program was developed to enhance social support and resilience based on reminiscence and collaboration, and was administered to study participants.
In order to examine he effectiveness of the program, reliability test, frequency analysis, descriptive analysis, paired sample t-test and Kruskal Wallis test were conducted. To compensate for the limitations of quantitative analysis, the researcher also analyzed the process of the program using journal records prepared by volunteers who helped to conduct the program.
The results of the study confirmed that the program had a significant impact on social support and resilience among the study participants. Among the sub-categories of social support, emotional support, informational support, and evaluative support were increased significantly. In the sub-categories of resilience, meaningfulness, equanimity, and existential isolation were increased significantly. The examination of program process notes showed that the connection and service between the elderly and the volunteers continued even after the program ended. This suggests that the relationships formed in the program can be developed into a lasting resource.
This study was the first program conducted in-person for older adults living alone immediately after a long period of social distancing due to COVID-19. The social work practice implications of this study are as follows.
First, the study is significant in that it is a program developed with frontline social workers who work with the elderly living alone on a daily basis. It considered various aspects of the elderly living alone, including their characteristics, needs, and situations.
Second, since the elderly living alone lack social support compared to other elderly persons, it is necessary to build a social support system based on their characteristics and needs, and furthermore, to establish a sustainable social network and care plan within the community.
Third, in preparation for future possible disasters, it would be necessary to develop countermeasures or online programs that can increase the social support and resilience of the elderly living alone.