In the study of 2268 US individuals aged 60 years and older who completed the Psychosocial and Lifestyle Questionnaires and provided blood samples in 2016, there was a strong association between engaging in social activities and a low risk of 4-year mortality. High social engagement was associated with a 42% lower mortality risk than low engagement.
Specific activities, such as charity work, engaging with grandchildren, and participation in sports or social clubs, were particularly significant predictors of a reduced risk of dying.
Also, analyses indicated that decelerated biological aging and greater physical activity levels played key roles in facilitating the beneficial relationship between social engagement and lower mortality rates.
“Staying socially active is more than a lifestyle choice. It is closely linked to healthier aging and longevity,” said corresponding author Ashraf Abugroun, MBBS, MPH, of the University of California, San Francisco. “These results underscore how participating in community life contributes to better health in older adults.”
Research confirms that social isolation and loneliness significantly impact health and mortality, even if not listed on death certificates. Brigham Young University psychology and neuroscience professor, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, has published extensively on the topic, including a landmark 2010 meta-analysis and a 2023 framework on assessment and treatment. She also served as lead scientist on the 2023 Surgeon General Advisory and is advising the World Health Organization on an upcoming report that addresses the pressing health threat of loneliness and isolation and a global agenda on social connection.
Social connection is now a legitimate health factor, but Holt-Lunstad and doctoral student, Andrew Proctor, recently published two studies showing that most of us (the general population and medical providers) still don’t think social connection affects physical health. And even the professionals who recognise the importance report that they don’t have time or tools to help patients address social concerns.
Proctor, who authored a study recently published in Springer Nature, explained that before the study, they had been watching how the pandemic was influencing internet searches around the topics of isolation and loneliness.
“I have a marketing background, so I thought that maybe the public perception had changed since COVID. Social distancing, isolation and loneliness were huge buzzwords on the internet as seen through Google Trends and BuzzSumo (an online trend analyzer). Everything around these search terms was super viral during that time, and so we wondered if perceptions about social connection had changed,” said Proctor.
With loneliness and isolation trending on the internet, the researchers set up a study. In a nationally representative sample of US adults, as well as samples from the UK and Australia, they surveyed 2,392 people about their perceptions of health risks associated with isolation and loneliness. The data showed that, despite the pandemic and other campaigns, people still underestimate the importance of social connection for physical health. And the underestimation exists equally among the lonely and the socially connected.
“The study identified blind spots in medical care,” said Proctor. “Social connection is like a vital sign. What if we didn’t care about high blood pressure? Or what if we never knew smoking was bad for us? Social connection is like a key vital sign. We just don’t tend to recognize it.”
In a closely connected study, Holt-Lunstad and Proctor, along with coauthors from top research medical centers, surveyed 681 healthcare providers (primarily doctors) about perceptions of health risks associated with poor social connection. Similar to the general population from the first study, healthcare providers underestimated social connection as a medically relevant health factor.
The researchers gleaned some unexpected insights due to an unintentional time lag in data collection in the second study.
“We completed the data collection at two different time points because we were waiting for institutional approvals. Our first cohort was healthcare providers through the University of Utah Health System. Slightly later, we had a second major cohort of University of California San Francisco (UCSF) physicians,” said Holt-Lunstad. “What was interesting is that the perceived importance of social factors was a bit higher among the UCSF group.”
A simple form of talking therapy, delivered telephonically by trained support workers, successfully reduced loneliness in older people left isolated during the pandemic, according to initial results from a new study.
The intervention lasted for eight weeks and was designed in partnership with older people. People were contacted weekly and were encouraged to maintain their social contacts and to stick to a daily schedule, which included both routine and enjoyable activities.
The intervention developed in the BASIL-C19 (Behavioural Activation in Social Isolation) study lasted for eight weeks and was designed in partnership with older people who had direct experience of social isolation, loneliness and depression during the pandemic.
The importance of social connection was highlighted by the COVID pandemic and its restrictions. Pre-pandemic research identified 1.4 million older adults in England as experiencing significant loneliness with impacts on their mental health. Research since the pandemic shows that rates of loneliness and depression have increased, particularly for those who were self-isolating.
A team of leading researchers and clinicians anticipated the impacts of the pandemic on mental health and re-focussed their research expertise to examine the psychological impact of enforced isolation, disruption to daily routines, loss of social contact and loneliness.
They designed a very brief telephone delivered intervention to combat depression and loneliness. Older people appreciated the offer of telephone contact and they found the intervention to be helpful in maintaining daily routines and social contact.
In the preliminary results, published in PLOS Medicine, the research team found evidence of improved mental health, and a strong indication that loneliness rates were substantially reduced in the first three months. A much larger trial follow-on trial is now currently recruiting over 600 older people and is the largest study ever undertaken to tackle loneliness and depression in this way.
