[Friendship as a key to wellbeing: a course for women over 55 years old]

Friendship serves several important functions which contribute to well being in later life. The companionate function of friendship contributes to positive well being under normal circumstances. Friendship also provides social support during stressful events, such as loss of the partner, thus reducing negative well being. In addition to supporting socialization in new situations, friends serve a sustaining function; that is, they help sustain continuity of meaning of self and life experiences from the communal perspective of values and norms developed over the years. Various studies show that friendship is more important for older women than older men; women are more likely to maintain friendships until late in life and benefit from their friendships in adaptation to loss of the partner. A course was developed to assist older women in improving the quality or quantity of their friendships, to help them improve their well being. The course is based on a self-help method and the principles of feminist therapy. A model describing four phases in which relational competence is important in friendship also forms the basis for the course. Disorders in friendship can be understood and influenced in terms of a cognitive perspective, aimed at customary thoughts on self, others and relationships. An evaluation study of the eleven participants in the first course demonstrates a significant decline in loneliness a year after the course as finished, as well as relevant improvements in the quality or quantity of friendships among several participants. The changes appear to be independent of the women's adult attachments styles, which influence their orientation in friendship. The conclusion is that the friendship course supports socially active lonely women, whose loneliness is not too extreme.