Reducing Loneliness of the Elderly

- A Study on Emotional Support -

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the sense of loneliness underlying the lives of elderly people. The lack of activities relating to hobbies or exercises and separation from their social network have led to the absence of intimate human relationships. This in turn has revealed the issue of emotional loneliness, which had been hidden beneath various social activities.

　First, to discuss the abovementioned theme, an outline of impactful studies conducted before and after the COVID-19 pandemic on the theme of isolation and loneliness of elderly citizens is presented, along with the proposals made in them for ways to ease emotional loneliness. Next, an investigation by Sigrun-Heide Filipp, one of the representative psychologists of elderly mentality in Germany, and her colleagues are reviewed to understand their suggestions toward providing proper emotional support for elderly citizens facing emotional crisis events. Last, the idea of the "little way" proposed by Thérèse of Lisieux, a nun belonging to the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in France, and a discussion by a Catholic priest, Ichiro Okumura, to find connections between the Japanese people and Christianity encompassed in the idea of the little way are reviewed, in order to clarify whether this would lead to a suggestive notion to form a foundation of emotional support practice in Japan.