The experience of living alone as an older woman in the UK during the Covid pandemic: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Background and objectives More people are living alone across the life course: in later life this can have implications for practical and psychosocial support. The Covid pandemic emphasised the importance of this when the UK government restricted movement outside of households to limit the spread of disease. This had important ramifications regarding social contact and practical support. The objectives of this study were to explore the experience of older women living alone during this time, with a focus on health and wellbeing. Research design and methods This study used an Interpretative Phenomenological approach. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with seven women (aged 65 +), living alone in the UK. Interviews were carried out between May and October 2020. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the transcripts. Results Findings show that life course events shaped how living alone was experienced in later life. Convergences and divergences in lived experience were identified. Three superordinate themes emerged from the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Productivity, Ownership, and Interconnectedness. Discussion and implications Findings highlight the importance of life course events in shaping the experience of later life. They also provide a better understanding of the lived experience of living alone as an older woman, increasing knowledge of this group and how living alone can affect health and wellbeing. Implications for research and practice are discussed, such as the importance of recognising the specific support needs for this group in later life, and the need for further knowledge about groups whose needs are not met by standard practice

Gambling harms in adult social care: developing an ‘introductory’ question to identify gambling harms among service users

Gambling harms are disproportionately experienced among disadvantaged groups and as such, adult social care (ASC) practitioners are well-placed to identify and support affected individuals. There exists no evidence-based ‘introductory’ question for practitioners to identify those at risk of gambling harms, which includes family and friends (‘affected others’). To develop an ‘introductory’ question for use in English ASC, we conducted a scoping review that identified fifteen potential questions. Questions were refined through expert panel review groups (n = 13), cognitive interviewing (n = 18), test–retest reliability checks (n = 20) and validity testing (n = 2,100) against gold-standard measures of problem gambling behaviour. The question development process produced two questions suitable for testing in local authority (LA) ASC departments. These were (i) ‘Do you feel you are affected by any gambling, either your own or someone else’s?’ and (ii) ‘If you or someone close to you gambles, do you feel it is causing you any worries?’ Each had good face validity, strong test–retest reliability, correlated highly with well-being measures and performed reasonably against validated measures of problem gambling. These two questions are currently being piloted by ASC practitioners in three English LAs to assess their feasibility for adoption in practice

Older women living alone in the UK: Does their health and wellbeing differ from those who cohabit?

With an increased prevalence of people living alone in later life, understanding the health and wellbeing of older women living alone in the UK is an important area of research. Little is known about health and wellbeing in this population and whether they differ from those who cohabit. This paper fills this research gap. Analysis was undertaken of Wave 8 of the Understanding Society Household Panel Survey, including variables such as internet use and volunteering. Differences were found between those who live alone and cohabit. Volunteering was a predictor of better health outcomes for those who lived alone but not for those who cohabit, despite similar rates of volunteering. Internet use predicted some better health outcome for those who cohabit but poorer for those who live alone. This suggests lifestyle factors vary in how they affect the health and wellbeing of older women, depending on cohabitation status

The health and wellbeing of older women living alone in the UK: is living alone a risk factor for poorer health?

Older women are more likely to live alone in later life in the UK; however, relatively little is known as to how this has an association with poorer health. This paper attempts to fill this research gap, assessing if living alone is a risk factor for poorer health in later life. The Household Panel Survey data, wave 8 were used which was collected during 2017 in the United Kingdom. Women’s household types were divided into three types: living alone, living with a partner and living with others (not a partner). Seven health and wellbeing outcome variables were used. Descriptive analysis and regression analyses examined the role of living alone in predicting health and wellbeing, controlling for demographic and socioeconomic (SES) factors. Results showed significant differences between the household types. However, living alone was not found to be a risk factor for poorer health once SES variables were included in the regression models. While there were differences in the health and wellbeing of the three household composition types, these differences were not found to be significant once demographic and socioeconomic variables were accounted for. Future UK policy should aim to reduce inequalities in SES throughout the life course to improve health and wellbeing in later life. Future research directions include a more detailed examination of the determinants of health of this population

Needs and experiences of homecare workers when supporting people to live at home at the end of life: a rapid review

Background Social homecare workers provide essential care to those living at home at the end of life. In the context of a service experiencing difficulties in attracting and retaining staff, we have limited knowledge about the training, support needs and experiences of this group.Aim To gain a timely understanding from the international literature of the experience, training and support needs of homecare workers providing end-of-life care.Methods We conducted a rapid review and narrative synthesis using the recommendations of the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group. Building on a previous review, social homecare worker and end-of-life search terms were used to identify studies. Quality appraisal was conducted using a multimethods tool.Data sources CINAHL and Medline databases (2011–2023; English language).Results 19 papers were included representing 2510 participants (91% women) providing new and deeper insights. Four themes were generated: (1) emotional support; homecare workers need to manage complex and distressing situations, navigating their own, their clients’ and clients’ family, emotions; (2) interaction with other social and healthcare workers; homecare workers are isolated from, and undervalued and poorly understood by the wider healthcare team; (3) training and support; recognising the deteriorating client, symptom management, practicalities around death, communications skills and supervision; (4) recognising good practice; examples of good practice exist but data regarding effectiveness or implementation of interventions are scant.Conclusions Social homecare workers are essential for end-of-life care at home but are inadequately trained, often isolated and underappreciated. Our findings are important for policy-makers addressing this crucial challenge, and service providers in social and healthcare

Assessing potential brief screening questions for use within different social care‐related contexts to identify individuals experiencing gambling‐related harms: a scoping review

Gambling-related harms are increasingly recognised as public health concerns internationally. One response is to improve identification of and support for those affected by gambling-related harms, including individuals who gamble and those close to them, ‘affected others’. Adult social care services have been identified as a setting in which screening for gambling-related harms is suitable and desirable. To achieve this, a tool is required which can identify gambling-related harms experienced by individuals and affected others. This scoping review aimed to identify whether any brief (i.e. three questions or less) screening tools are being used and, if so, how brief screening for gambling-related harm is being implemented in health and social care-related contexts. An international English language scoping review of research and grey literature was undertaken between April and July 2021. The search included single-item and brief screening tools which have been developed to identify gambling-related harms for individuals and affected others across a range of health and social care-related contexts. Findings show that screening tools for gambling-related harms have been developed for use in health settings rather than in social care contexts. For example within gambling, mental health or substance misuse support services. We found no evidence of a brief or single-item screening tool for identifying harms to individuals and affected others which is of adequate quality to strongly recommend for use in an adult social care setting. Development of a validated brief or single-item screening tool is recommended to assist adult social care practitioners to effectively screen, identify, support and signpost people affected by gambling-related harms

Erratum: Correction: Supported: Supporting, enabling, and sustaining homecare workers to deliver end-of-life care: A qualitative study protocol (PloS one (2023) 18 12 (e0291525))

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291525.]

Correction: Supported: Supporting, enabling, and sustaining homecare workers to deliver end-of-life care: A qualitative study protocol.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291525.]