Chronic Loneliness May Increase Stroke Risk – What Senior Care Communities Can Do About It

While many studies have examined the effects of loneliness, those studies have only focused on the effects of loneliness at a single time point. A new study published in June examines chronic loneliness and its effects on stroke risk. Its findings highlight the fact that loneliness is a serious health issue, and the importance of preventing chronic loneliness.

Chronic Loneliness and Stroke Risk

The study, titled Chronic Loneliness and the Risk of Incident Stroke in Middle and Late Adulthood, uses data from the 2006-2018 Health and Retirement Study. Adults aged 50 years or older who were stroke-free at the baseline were included, and loneliness scores and loneliness patterns were examined. That data was compared to incident stroke over a six- to eight-year period.

The study revealed that individuals who had consistently high loneliness patterns over time also had significantly higher stroke risk than individuals with lower loneliness scores. “Chronic loneliness was associated with higher stroke risk independent of depressive symptoms or social isolation,” the authors wrote. “Addressing loneliness may have an important role in stroke prevention, and repeated assessments of loneliness over time may help identify those particularly at risk.”

The Loneliness Problem in Senior Care

Natasha Killian, resident services director at Capitol Lakes

Natasha Killian, resident services director at Capitol Lakes, explains that loneliness is prevalent in senior care settings for numerous reasons. “In our later years, grief is happening for so many reasons,” she says. That grief can result from loss of friends, loss of family members, loss of good health, loss of independence, and more. “The feelings of loss can be minimized because our culture does expect these changes during this time. Thus, the emotional piece is often overlooked,” she says explains.

That loss is compounded by environmental changes, like moves to a senior living or assisted living community, where residents are in entirely new environments. “Most [residents] do not feel comfortable expressing their feelings of loss and isolation,” Killian says.

Christian Ross, founder of Happy Talks, notes that although senior living residents may be surrounded by others, it’s still possible to feel lonely, and residents may self-isolate. “The segment of residents that self-isolate may feel a bit ostracized due to a chronic condition or speech impediment or simply from not being in the environment they knew and loved for years,” Ross says. “Unfortunately, the cognitive and physical decline that can happen from persistent loneliness has been linked to a greater risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and stroke.”

Ross explains that while communities may host activities and check in with and support residents, loneliness may often result from external activities, like the lack of visits and friends.

Preventing Loneliness in Senior Care Settings

Killian explains that Capitol Lakes assigns resident mentors upon move-in, which helps to quickly create a friendly connection. Additionally, a social worker is on staff to provide residents with ongoing support, and there is also regular communication between staff and residents. “One of the volunteer opportunities that currently exists at Capitol Lakes is being Floor Rep of your floor,” she explains. “The point of this role is to foster cohesiveness amongst the floor you live on. This effort often helps us identify folks that are struggling.”

Christian Ross, founder of Happy Talks

When residents are identified as being lonely, Killian, the social worker for Capitol Lakes, works to connect them with appropriate resources. “Sometime those resources are internal and it’s a matter of matching someone with community opportunities that match their interests. Sometimes it’s external resources, like getting established with an individual therapist,” she says. “Our resident Health Committee also discusses isolation and loneliness regularly and creates ideas for battling this within the community. It’s absolutely a community effort.”

The Happy Talks social phone call service helps communities when they identify residents who are lonely. From there, Happy Talks offers residents scheduled opportunities to talk with conversationalists.

Ross encourages communities to audit the ways that staff are connecting with those residents who do not participate in activities. “Work with your team to create a custom connection plan that incorporates more touch points,” she says. “Work with your clinical team to monitor additional areas of support and outcomes.”

When Capitol Lakes saw a surge of new residents moving in this spring and summer and it became apparent that many were struggling with the adjustment, residents approached Killian with concerns for the newcomers. In response, Killian launched a new support group for those who were emotionally struggling with change. “The pilot group uncovered a larger need than anticipated, but validated the effort,” she explains. “The goal is now to work collaboratively with the residents to fine-tune this new group to be as beneficial as possible.”

Preventing loneliness is more than creating an events calendar or checking in with residents. “Find the social opportunities that work for your community,” Killian says. “Involve your residents in figuring this out.” For example, Capitol Lakes’ Thursday Social Hour features a casual atmosphere that creates connections, and the residents enjoy this style of getting together.

Perhaps most importantly, Killian actively works to talk about loneliness in the community. “I try to make it a topic that is not forbidden,” she says. “I aim to acknowledge the significant impact a huge transition has on someone instead of waiting for them to reach out. Demonstrating the empathetic nature of our community early on is huge.”

Paige Cerulli

Paige Cerulli is a contributing writer to i Advance Senior Care.