This review has been concerned with

This review has been concerned with the effectiveness of health promotion
interventions to alleviate and prevent social isolation and loneliness among
older people. The findings provide clear evidence that a few interventions
are effective, namely group interventions involving some form of educational
or training input, and social activities that targeted specific groups
of people. The review encountered several methodological problems, the
first being whether to include studies published only in the Englishlanguage
or, alternatively, those in any language. A pragmatic decision
was taken to include studies in any language identified through the source
databases, by hand-searching and through contacts with experts in the
field. Although Spanish and Nordic language databases were searched,
and articles in languages other than English were identified through handsearched
reference lists, a bias towards English-language articles remained.
The inaccessibility of literature in non-English languages (to native English
speakers) is an important limitation on internationally comparative
research. Nevertheless, the majority of publications identified in other
languages were neither intervention nor loneliness studies but rather examinations
of related matters such as social support.