Development of social contact and loneliness measures with validation in social prescribing

AimsThis paper describes two patient-reported measures of social contact and loneliness, which are closely related concepts. The first measure (R-Outcomes Social Contact measure) was developed from scratch, based on customer needs and literature review. It covers emotional and social aspects using p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ open quality 2021-05, Vol.10 (2), p.e001306
Main Authors: Benson, Tim, Seers, Helen, Webb, Nicola, McMahon, Philippa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Age groups
Clinical outcomes
COVID-19
Disease prevention
Gender differences
Health administration
independent living
Loneliness
Original Research
patient reported outcome measures
Patient-centered care
patient-centred care
Prescriptions
primary care
Quality control
Quality improvement
Social interaction
Well being
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Summary:AimsThis paper describes two patient-reported measures of social contact and loneliness, which are closely related concepts. The first measure (R-Outcomes Social Contact measure) was developed from scratch, based on customer needs and literature review. It covers emotional and social aspects using positive terms. The second measure (R-Outcomes Loneliness measure) is adapted from the GSS Loneliness Harmonised Standard. Both measures are patient-reported outcome measures, based on patients’ own perception of how they feel.MethodThis development started in 2016 in response to customers’ requests to measure social contact/loneliness for patients in social prescribing projects.Both measures are compared with three other loneliness measures (the GSS Loneliness Harmonised Standard, De Jong Gierveld and Campaign to End Loneliness). Both measures are short (36 and 21 words, respectively). Mean improvement is reported as a positive number on a 0–100 scale (where high is good).We tested the psychometric performance and construct validity of the R-Outcomes Social Contact measure using secondary analysis of anonymised data collected before and after social prescribing interventions in one part of Southern England.ResultsIn the validation study, 728 responses, collected during 2019–2020, were analysed. 90% were over 70 years old and 62% women. Cronbach’s α=0.76, which suggests that it is appropriate to use a single summary score. Mean Social Contact scores before and after social prescribing intervention were 59.9 (before) and 66.7 (after, p
ISSN:2399-6641
2399-6641
DOI:10.1136/bmjoq-2020-001306