[Home visits to the elderly in Leiden: an investigation into the effect on loneliness]

In this article the research results are presented of the pilot intervention project 'Elderly support home visits'. The aim of this experiment was to reduce loneliness among older persons who make use of extramural care. The intervention was accompanied by quantitative effect measurements, followed by a qualitative study of the process. To determine the effectiveness of the intervention, data on loneliness were collected among those persons who have made use of the welfare services (the experimental group) and those who were not interested in these services (the control group) on three different times: during the first home visit and approximately six and twelve months later. The main finding is that the intervention did not lead to a substantial reduction in the loneliness score in the experimental group. Feelings of loneliness among the participants did reduce, but this decline was small and not significant and did not continue in the long-term. The process evaluation suggests some explanations for this result. This article concludes with the limitations of the research design and suggestions for improvement of the intervention.