Volunteer visiting and loneliness in residential aged care

The question behind the project

What place might a regular volunteer visit have in the everyday life of a person living in residential aged care? This proposed narrative review begins with that question. Its focus is the relationship between volunteer visiting and loneliness, with attention to the experience of companionship as well as the way outcomes are described in existing research.

This is a research proposal in development. It does not report completed findings or claim that a particular visiting programme has been proven effective. The purpose of this page is to set out the proposed question, scope and direction.

A proposed approach

The planned review would examine literature published between 2018 and 2025. Before reviewing studies, the project would need a clear search strategy, inclusion criteria and a consistent way to record the setting, type of visiting programme, participants and outcomes of each study.

A narrative review can bring different kinds of research into conversation. It also requires care: experiences described in interviews and changes recorded through a measurement scale answer different kinds of questions. Those distinctions would remain visible in the synthesis.

Questions to explore

How do studies describe the purpose of volunteer visits? What matters to residents about the timing, continuity and quality of those visits? How are loneliness and social connection defined? Whose perspective is included when a programme is evaluated?

The review would also consider what the literature leaves uncertain, including differences between settings and the limits of short follow-up periods. These are questions for investigation, rather than conclusions reached in advance.

Next steps

The next steps are to refine the research question, develop the search and screening process, and seek academic feedback on the review plan. Any future findings would be presented with references, methodological details and a clear account of the limits of the evidence.