Loneliness is recognised as a ‘grand challenge’ for social work, given its negative impact on health and well-being. But there has been limited progress on how social workers should respond. We aimed to characterise social work research on loneliness from 2016 to 2021, to inform policy, practice and training. We utilised the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews with a narrative synthesis of results. Data were extracted on study characteristics, assessment and intervention strategies, the role of social workers in this literature and limitations in the research. The final review consisted of 366 studies. Results showed a steady growth in research outputs on loneliness over time, predominantly (40 per cent) aimed at improving social work practice. Qualitative research methods (45 per cent) and cross-sectional study designs (61 per cent) were most common. Fewer than one-third of studies (32 per cent) used a formal assessment tool to identify loneliness. The most common intervention strategies examined were enhancing social relationships (30 per cent) and person-centred solutions (21 per cent). A slight majority (57 per cent) of peer-reviewed journal articles had a social work lead author. The review indicates social workers are engaged in research and action on loneliness, but ensuring this expertise is visible, led by social workers and accessible, remains a challenge.

中文翻译：

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绘制社会工作对孤独“巨大挑战”的反应：对文献的系统范围界定

鉴于孤独对健康和福祉的负面影响，孤独被认为是社会工作的“巨大挑战”。但在社会工作者应如何应对方面进展有限。我们的目标是描述 2016 年至 2021 年有关孤独的社会工作研究的特点，为政策、实践和培训提供信息。我们利用乔安娜布里格斯研究所的方法来通过结果的叙述性综合来确定评论范围。提取了有关研究特征、评估和干预策略、社会工作者在该文献中的作用以及研究局限性的数据。最终审查包含 366 项研究。结果显示，随着时间的推移，关于孤独感的研究成果稳步增长，主要（40%）旨在改善社会工作实践。定性研究方法（45％）和横断面研究设计（61％）是最常见的。不到三分之一的研究（32%）使用正式的评估工具来识别孤独感。最常见的干预策略是加强社会关系（30%）和以人为本的解决方案（21%）。绝大多数（57%）的同行评审期刊文章都有社会工作的主要作者。审查表明，社会工作者正在从事有关孤独的研究和行动，但确保这种专业知识是可见的、由社会工作者领导的、易于获取的，仍然是一个挑战。