Loneliness of the Elderly in a Village in the North of Portugal: The GNR’s Elderly Monitoring Program

The demographic aging presents significant intervention challenges to institutions within the elderly care management system, such as the National Republican Guard (GNR) with its program “65 years—elderly in safety,” which aims to minimize the effects of social isolation and the experience of loneliness. This exploratory study had as its main goal to understand how elderly individuals aged 65 and over who participate in this GNR program experience loneliness and to identify the social and emotional challenges that arise from it, particularly regarding mental health. Twenty elderly people were surveyed, out of a total of 40, and identified and monitored by the GNR. This is a non-probabilistic quota sample, selected according to gender and age group. In addition to a sociodemographic characterization survey, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the SELSA-S (Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS 15) were used. The surveyed elderly present a moderate level of loneliness, with most having family but not finding in it the necessary social support to meet their needs and promote their mental health and well-being. The fact that they live in rural areas, far from large population centers, creates barriers to fulfilling their various needs and often, as evidenced by the data collected, leads them to develop depressive symptoms.