Effects of Psychosocial Interventions on Loneliness Amongst Long‐Term Care Residents: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Loneliness significantly affects the physical and mental health of older adults, particularly those in long-term care settings. Despite the high prevalence of loneliness, comprehensive reviews on psychosocial interventions targeting loneliness in these populations are scarce. AIMS: To evaluate the effects of psychosocial interventions in reducing loneliness among long-term care residents. STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive search across five databases-CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed/Medline, PsychINFO and The Cochrane Library-from inception to 14 February 2025. The inclusion criteria encompassed randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies and pilot studies published in English that assessed psychosocial interventions for loneliness amongst long-term care residents. The Effective Public Health Practice Project framework was utilised for the quality assessment. RESULTS: A total of 19 studies with 1646 participants were included. Results indicated that psychosocial interventions significantly reduced loneliness in long-term care residents. The interventions were categorised into lifestyle and leisure activities, psychological interventions, social support interventions and animal/robot-assisted interventions. Subgroup analyses revealed significant effects for lifestyle and leisure activities, group-based interventions, face-to-face delivery and interventions that less than 8 weeks. CONCLUSION: Psychosocial interventions demonstrated a large effect size in reducing loneliness amongst long-term care residents. Interventions that incorporated lifestyle and leisure activities with a physical activity component, delivered face-to-face in group settings and lasted for less than 8 weeks may be particularly effective. IMPLICATION OF PRACTICE: This review provides updated evidence that psychosocial interventions could improve loneliness amongst residents in long-term care settings. Consequently, it offers solid information to inform policy changes and intervention strategies. REPORTING METHOD: The researching results were reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis checklist. NO PATIENT OR PUBLICATION CONTRIBUTION: This study is a systematic review with meta-analysis, and such details do not apply to our work. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (ID: CRD42024534009).