Loneliness is already a global public health problem, according to the World Health Organization. World Health Organization in a report published in 2021. Despite the progress made in our society, loneliness and, in particular, "unwanted loneliness" are two very complex problems to measure. According to the WHO itself, between 20% and 34% of older people in China, Europe, Latin America and the United States feel lonely.
Over the years, the stigma behind mental health and, in our topic today, unwanted loneliness, is becoming a growing concern in society and among healthcare professionals. Before assessing its impact on people's lives, we must first ask ourselves a question. What is loneliness? Experts seem to agree on a definition: "a self-perceived feeling of dissatisfaction with the frequency of social contacts, and social isolation". This feeling, in turn, produces a series of effects on the health of the elderly. According to the WHO: "It shortens the lives of older people and damages their physical and mental health and quality of life".
Although loneliness may seem to be a problem exclusive to mental health, the truth is that it also affects the general well-being of any person. A scientific study published in 2015 estimated that loneliness, social isolation and living alone raised the risk of death by 26%, 29% and 30%, respectively. In older people, this isolation is further aggravated by a fall, retirement or widowhood. These causes eventually lead to the person ending up locked up at home. This isolation, as if it were a fish that bites its own tail, in turn leads to a worsening of the elderly person's health and a decrease in his or her ability to perform common activities.
As reported in the newspaper El País Esther Roquero, president of the Catalan Society of Geriatrics of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Catalonia, loneliness is one of the greatest dangers for our elders "Loneliness kills like diseases. And it produces more ailments, as if it were a cascade. For me, it is a geriatric syndrome, like frailty: it has a high prevalence in the elderly and an impact on health."
How can we combat unwanted loneliness?
Unwanted loneliness is an established problem in our society. The pandemic made many families realize the importance of being together and, in turn, technology made it possible to reduce the distance between those who could not relate to each other in person. However, it also distanced many older people because of the need to protect them from COVID.
Nursing homes for the elderly had to close their doors to visitors and day care centers also suffered significant restrictions. Although normality has gradually returned to these centers and to the families, it is also important to renew efforts on the part of the Administrations to integrate the elderly into the daily life of society.
The wearable solution
Home care, the renovation of day centers and the creation of new activities in empty Spain are a first step in this direction. In turn, telecare in Spain is beginning to embrace advances in technology to bring people closer to their families and caregivers. Wearable devices such as our ID Vita smartwatch allow us to take these steps towards a new telecare that is better connected and closer. This is possible thanks to the possibility of making calls with the device, the option of sending notifications to the user and communicating with them constantly.
In addition, these devices have interfaces that are fully adapted to these users, making them much more intuitive to use than other types of commercial products. The next big challenge is to bring the advances of current devices such as smartphones to the elderly, adapting them with customized interfaces and creating ecosystems designed for their needs with unique functionalities.
Thanks to technology, it is possible to bring people together. The current challenge lies in adapting all these innovations to the elderly, whose needs and fragility require a design designed entirely for them. This is a healthcare challenge for companies in the telecare sector and the administrations responsible for bringing these services to citizens.