Aging and Isolation
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Why do some senior citizens suffer from isolation while others don't?
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Solution Summary
This solution examines why some older adults are more at risk of social isolation than others.
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Please note that the terms "Senior", "Elderly" and "Older Adult" are all interchangeable, although the term "Older Adult" has become more socially acceptable terminology amongst Sociologists and researchers.
For older adults, social isolation and loneliness are among the most frequent causes of hospitalization or placement in nursing homes. Cohabitation becomes rarer with advancing age, a phenomenon that has grown increasingly important during the twentieth century. Social isolation, characterized by extremely infrequent contacts with other people, affects approximately one out of ten elderly people according to the National Library of Medicine. Most at risk are those who retired from lower positions in employment, divorced people and widowers. Older adults who are frail and in poor health are also more likely to become isolated simply because their ability to get out of their home is greatly reduced. The main causes of isolation, according to healthyplace.com are the absence of children and relatives in the immediate area (this will be discussed further later on), the fact of ...
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