social isolation in elderly

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the objective condition of having few social contacts, relationships, or community connections, experienced disproportionately by older adults due to bereavement of spouses and peers, retirement from work-based social networks, reduced mobility, sensory impairments that make communication difficult, the death or migration of adult children, and the design of housing and urban environments that do not support social connection; social isolation is distinguished from loneliness — the subjective feeling of insufficient companionship — though they frequently co-occur and are mutually reinforcing; epidemiological research has established that social isolation and loneliness are significant risk factors for mortality, dementia, cardiovascular disease, depression, and functional decline in older adults, with effects on health comparable in magnitude to smoking; the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically intensified social isolation among elderly people globally through lockdowns, visitor restrictions in care homes, and the closure of community programmes, accelerating recognition of social isolation as a public health priority requiring systematic intervention