Social Connection and Engagement

Forming and sustaining social connections is widely understood as a deep human impulse reflective of the innate human need to have others with whom we can depend on and trust [1]. This insight has formed the backbone of many academic disciplines including sociology, anthropology, and philosophy [2, 3]. Social connection is increasingly championed as an important public health issue [4]. Furthermore, social connection and engagement are increasingly proposed in policy as ways to promote healthy ageing and enable community-living older people to flourish in their homes and communities for as long as possible [5, 6]. The focus on social connection and engagement aligns with the shift to positive, strengths-based approaches in ageing research. These approaches challenge ageist assumptions that later life necessarily involves diminished social contact and increased levels of social isolation and loneliness [7, 8].