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‘Oh no, not a group!’: The factors that lonely or isolated people report as barriers to joining groups for health and well-being

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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‘Oh no, not a group!’: The factors that lonely or isolated people report as barriers to joining groups for health and well-being. / Stuart, A.; Stevenson, C.; Koschate, M. et al.
In: British Journal of Health Psychology, Vol. 27, No. 1, 28.02.2022, p. 179-193.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Stuart, A, Stevenson, C, Koschate, M, Cohen, J & Levine, M 2022, '‘Oh no, not a group!’: The factors that lonely or isolated people report as barriers to joining groups for health and well-being', British Journal of Health Psychology, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 179-193. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12536

APA

Stuart, A., Stevenson, C., Koschate, M., Cohen, J., & Levine, M. (2022). ‘Oh no, not a group!’: The factors that lonely or isolated people report as barriers to joining groups for health and well-being. British Journal of Health Psychology, 27(1), 179-193. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12536

Vancouver

Stuart A, Stevenson C, Koschate M, Cohen J, Levine M. ‘Oh no, not a group!’: The factors that lonely or isolated people report as barriers to joining groups for health and well-being. British Journal of Health Psychology. 2022 Feb 28;27(1):179-193. Epub 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12536

Author

Stuart, A. ; Stevenson, C. ; Koschate, M. et al. / ‘Oh no, not a group!’ : The factors that lonely or isolated people report as barriers to joining groups for health and well-being. In: British Journal of Health Psychology. 2022 ; Vol. 27, No. 1. pp. 179-193.

Bibtex

@article{1733f017209242abb04690ab2ca888db,
title = "{\textquoteleft}Oh no, not a group!{\textquoteright}: The factors that lonely or isolated people report as barriers to joining groups for health and well-being",
abstract = "Objectives: Belonging to groups can significantly affect people{\textquoteright}s health and well-being for the better ({\textquoteleft}the social cure{\textquoteright}) or worse ({\textquoteleft}the social curse{\textquoteright}). Encouraging people to join groups is a central component of the Social Prescribing movement; however, not everyone who might benefit from Social Prescribing aspires to participating in groups. This study aims to identify what barriers are preventing people from experiencing the associated health and well-being benefits of group belonging. Method: Semi-structured interviews analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Participants were 11 white British people (aged 48-86), 1 male and 10 female, recruited by a charity partner of a Social Prescribing project. Results: The themes derived from the interviews are as follows: (1) {\textquoteleft}The dread, the fear of being in a group{\textquoteright}: When groups do not meet needs; (2) {\textquoteleft}I can remember as quite a young child backing out of things{\textquoteright}: Accumulative barriers over the lifetime, and (3) {\textquoteleft}I{\textquoteright}m singing away and feeling terribly miserable{\textquoteright}: the challenges of fitting in with others in groups. The themes reflect how people can feel deterred from social interaction, which interferes with their ability to derive a sense of belonging or shared identity associated with the {\textquoteleft}social cure{\textquoteright}. Conclusions: A key challenge for Social Prescribing is to meet the social needs of people disinclined to join groups; groups can be detrimental to health and well-being if there are barriers to integration. Alternative ways of structuring groups or activities may be more effective and can still avail of the belonging and identity associated with {\textquoteleft}the social cure{\textquoteright}. ",
keywords = "isolation; non-participation, loneliness, social cure, social prescribing, adult, aged, article, British citizen, child, controlled study, fear, female, human, male, middle aged, prescription, semi structured interview, singing, social interaction, social needs, social welfare, thematic analysis, wellbeing",
author = "A. Stuart and C. Stevenson and M. Koschate and J. Cohen and M. Levine",
year = "2022",
month = feb,
day = "28",
doi = "10.1111/bjhp.12536",
language = "English",
volume = "27",
pages = "179--193",
journal = "British Journal of Health Psychology",
issn = "1359-107X",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘Oh no, not a group!’

T2 - The factors that lonely or isolated people report as barriers to joining groups for health and well-being

AU - Stuart, A.

AU - Stevenson, C.

AU - Koschate, M.

AU - Cohen, J.

AU - Levine, M.

PY - 2022/2/28

Y1 - 2022/2/28

N2 - Objectives: Belonging to groups can significantly affect people’s health and well-being for the better (‘the social cure’) or worse (‘the social curse’). Encouraging people to join groups is a central component of the Social Prescribing movement; however, not everyone who might benefit from Social Prescribing aspires to participating in groups. This study aims to identify what barriers are preventing people from experiencing the associated health and well-being benefits of group belonging. Method: Semi-structured interviews analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Participants were 11 white British people (aged 48-86), 1 male and 10 female, recruited by a charity partner of a Social Prescribing project. Results: The themes derived from the interviews are as follows: (1) ‘The dread, the fear of being in a group’: When groups do not meet needs; (2) ‘I can remember as quite a young child backing out of things’: Accumulative barriers over the lifetime, and (3) ‘I’m singing away and feeling terribly miserable’: the challenges of fitting in with others in groups. The themes reflect how people can feel deterred from social interaction, which interferes with their ability to derive a sense of belonging or shared identity associated with the ‘social cure’. Conclusions: A key challenge for Social Prescribing is to meet the social needs of people disinclined to join groups; groups can be detrimental to health and well-being if there are barriers to integration. Alternative ways of structuring groups or activities may be more effective and can still avail of the belonging and identity associated with ‘the social cure’. 

AB - Objectives: Belonging to groups can significantly affect people’s health and well-being for the better (‘the social cure’) or worse (‘the social curse’). Encouraging people to join groups is a central component of the Social Prescribing movement; however, not everyone who might benefit from Social Prescribing aspires to participating in groups. This study aims to identify what barriers are preventing people from experiencing the associated health and well-being benefits of group belonging. Method: Semi-structured interviews analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Participants were 11 white British people (aged 48-86), 1 male and 10 female, recruited by a charity partner of a Social Prescribing project. Results: The themes derived from the interviews are as follows: (1) ‘The dread, the fear of being in a group’: When groups do not meet needs; (2) ‘I can remember as quite a young child backing out of things’: Accumulative barriers over the lifetime, and (3) ‘I’m singing away and feeling terribly miserable’: the challenges of fitting in with others in groups. The themes reflect how people can feel deterred from social interaction, which interferes with their ability to derive a sense of belonging or shared identity associated with the ‘social cure’. Conclusions: A key challenge for Social Prescribing is to meet the social needs of people disinclined to join groups; groups can be detrimental to health and well-being if there are barriers to integration. Alternative ways of structuring groups or activities may be more effective and can still avail of the belonging and identity associated with ‘the social cure’. 

KW - isolation; non-participation

KW - loneliness

KW - social cure

KW - social prescribing

KW - adult

KW - aged

KW - article

KW - British citizen

KW - child

KW - controlled study

KW - fear

KW - female

KW - human

KW - male

KW - middle aged

KW - prescription

KW - semi structured interview

KW - singing

KW - social interaction

KW - social needs

KW - social welfare

KW - thematic analysis

KW - wellbeing

U2 - 10.1111/bjhp.12536

DO - 10.1111/bjhp.12536

M3 - Journal article

VL - 27

SP - 179

EP - 193

JO - British Journal of Health Psychology

JF - British Journal of Health Psychology

SN - 1359-107X

IS - 1

ER -