Social Isolation in Older Adults and its Impact on Health

Social isolation is a complex phenomenon among older adults which can lead to numerous detrimental health conditions. With a high prevalence, and an increasing number of older persons, social isolation will impact the health, well-being, and quality of life of numerous older adults now and in the foreseeable future.
For this review, a series of literature searches of the Summon, CINAHL and Medline databases were conducted to gain understanding of what factors cause social isolation and how this impacts on health.
The findings suggest that older adults, who can manage changes within their social circumstances and stay connected socially, may experience less physical and mental health issues. However, for those older adults who struggle to cope with changes in their social circumstances, there needs to be a process of identification to recognise those who are reluctant to engage in social activities and illness preventative measures. For healthcare professionals this means early assessment of social isolation and referring at-risk individuals to available community resources or annual health screening programmes in primary care clinics. These measures could be proactive for determining which older persons have health behaviours or coping skills that place them at-risk and would serve to reduce the numerous negative health outcomes associated with social isolation.