ArticleAdvances in geriatric medicine and research2020
Why Loneliness Interventions Are Unsuccessful: A Call for Precision Health.
Article in Advances in geriatric medicine and research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of AI-based conversational and socially assistive agents in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of relational agents for loneliness across age groups: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Loneliness and Cognitive Function in Older Adults Without Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2023Pooled it
- A pilot randomized mobile health mindfulness intervention for older adult caregivers of family members with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.Aging & mental health · 2025Trial
- Loneliness and Plasma Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026Article
- Loneliness in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Multidimensional Determinant of Clinical Outcomes and Disease Management.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Self-initiated strategies for managing loneliness: insights from two large-scale surveys.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Loneliness Factors in Aging Veterans and Civilians: A Comparative Study.Military medicine · 2026Article
- Development of the Social Relationship Expectations Scale: protocol for a multi-country, multi-method observational study.BMJ open · 2025Observational
- Developing loneliness interventions for people with personality disorders: A call to action.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
- The 5D indicators of suicide risk in older adults who are lonely.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Article
- Connections for Ageing Well: A community healthy ageing program to promote social connection.Australasian journal on ageing · 2025Article
- Chronic loneliness and longitudinal changes in cognitive functioning.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Close to the Comfort Zone: Stakeholders' Perspectives on Implementing Leisure Activities in Dementia and Eldercare.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Disruption and Improvisation: Experiences of Loneliness for People With Chronic Illness.Qualitative health research · 2025Article
- Qualitative exploration of the lived experiences of loneliness in later life to inform technology development.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2024Article
- Social connection as a critical factor for mental and physical health: evidence, trends, challenges, and future implications.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2024Article
- Addressing loneliness and social isolation through the involvement of primary and secondary informal caregivers in nursing homes: a scoping review.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Loneliness among homeless-experienced older adults with cognitive or functional impairments: qualitative findings from the HOPE HOME study.BMC public health · 2024Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Loneliness has drawn increasing attention over the past few decades due to rising recognition of its close connection with serious health issues, like dementia. Yet, researchers are failing to find solutions to alleviate the globally experienced burden of loneliness. Purpose: This review aims to shed light on possible reasons for why interventions have been ineffective. We suggest new directions for research on loneliness as it relates to precision health, emerging technologies, digital phenotyping, and machine learning. Results: Current loneliness interventions are unsuccessful due to (i) their inconsideration of loneliness as a heterogeneous construct and (ii) not being targeted at individuals' needs and contexts. We propose a model for how loneliness interventions can move towards finding the right solution for the right person at the right time. Taking a precision health approach, we explore how transdisciplinary research can contribute to creating a more holistic picture of loneliness and shift interventions from treatment to prevention. Conclusions: We urge the field to rethink metrics to account for diverse intra-individual experiences and trajectories of loneliness. Big data sharing and evolving technologies that emphasize human connection raise hope for realizing our model of precision health applied to loneliness. There is an urgent need for precise, integrated, and theory-driven interventions that focus on individuals' needs and the subjective burden of loneliness in the ageing context.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.