Increasing Older Adults’ Social Connectedness: Development and Implementation of a Web-Assisted Acceptance and Commitment Therapy–Based Intervention
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract In this article, we will provide a rationale for a web-assisted acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) approach to loneliness among older adults, drawing upon theories from the literature on adult development and aging, emotion regulation, and loneliness. The intervention program was developed using the principles of ACT, which is a cognitive behavioral approach and unified model of human behavior change and psychological growth. The ACT intervention focuses on developing nonjudgmental present-focused awareness of internal experiences (thoughts, emotions, and memories) through strategies such as acceptance and mindfulness rather than directly modifying or removing them per se. The ACT intervention appears well-suited to assist older adults in coping with the challenges of aging, as the focus is on an individual’s willingness to sit with internal experiences out of one’s control (ie, acceptance), stepping back from negative or critical thoughts and developing greater kindness toward oneself (ie, defusion), discerning what is most important to one’s true self (ie, values), and building larger patterns of effective action based on such values (ie, committed action). The ACT intervention was developed as a resource for older adults who are socially isolated or having difficulty with social connectedness. Eight modules comprise the web-assisted ACT intervention program, which includes reading materials, video clips, and activities. Each module is followed by a summary, a homework assignment, a short quiz to assess learning, and a moderated discussion with a coach. The intervention program begins with reconnecting participants with their values. The goal of the ACT intervention program is to foster flexibility in a participant’s behavior so they can behave consistently with their chosen values, rather than becoming locked into a pattern of behavior that is driven by avoiding distress or discomfort. The ACT intervention approach is both novel and innovative, as it is based on ACT and leverages a behavioral health web platform that is flexible and inclusive in its design. The ACT intervention aims to help older adults become more socially connected, less lonely, and more satisfied with their relationships with other people. The emphasis that ACT places on values and living life in accordance with one’s values renders it an approach ideally suited to older adults. Finally, recommendations for future research regarding this approach to addressing loneliness among older adults is addressed.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.004 | 0.004 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".