Effects of a Volunteer-based Lunch Program on Feelings of Loneliness in Elders

Background: There is a need for stronger community involvement with the elderly, specifically those with feelings of loneliness. Large proportions of elders in previous studies reported feelings of loneliness, and loneliness at advanced ages is a growing trend seen within the last thirty years despite advances in technology and social media. We propose a randomized control trial to determine the effectiveness of a volunteer-based lunch program on decreasing feelings of loneliness in elderly participants. Methods: Lonely elders in the community will be identified and matched with a trained medical student. Each student will bring provided lunches once a week to their elder participant's residence, and they will share lunch together for an hour once a week for six weeks. Enrollees are eligible for the study if they are over 60 years of age, speak English, have feelings of loneliness on the three-item scale, and display no cognitive impairment. The participants will be assessed pre and post intervention using the R-UCLA scale for loneliness, PHQ-9 for depressive symptoms, and GAD-7 for feelings of anxiety. Participant satisfaction will be assessed using Likert items as well as open-ended questions. Intervention group responses will be compared to responses of participants that did not receive the lunch meeting intervention. Discussion: Success of such a companion lunch program would provide an effective route to combat loneliness in the elderly.