Social connections and well-being in older adults

There are major demographic shifts throughout the world and the absolute number and proportion of older adults is increasing rapidly not only in the UK and Europe but also in middle income nations such as India and China. Promoting the well-being of the population is a focus for most governments, so it is crucial to understand what affects well-being in older adults and to identify the policy levers that can promote well-being. Many older people report that social relationships are particularly important to them, so our project focuses on different aspects of social relationships and how these are related to well-being. The term 'well-being' means different things to different people and can include life satisfaction, quality of life, and feelings of happiness. Social relationships can include contact with family or friends, how people feel about their communities, participation in various activities or groups and feelings of loneliness. Each of these may affect each dimension of well-being in different ways and are likely to vary depending on cultural factors. People who are poorer, those with an illness and those who are carers usually have low levels of well-being and we would like to know how social relationships affect well-being in these groups. Changes in well-being in older age are still poorly understood. As we have data on different aspects of well-being spanning several years, we will be able to see how these change over time and how these changes relate to changes in social relationships. This study is a collaboration between an academic group at University College London and a policy think-tank working on issues of ageing and longevity (the International Longevity Centre - UK), and will clarify these relationships using data from large cohorts of older adults from England, across Europe and India. We anticipate that findings from this study will help policy makers and practitioners develop policies and interventions that can help improve well-being in older age groups.

There are a number of beneficiaries of this research on whom the impact of the proposed work will be apparent. These include:

i) Policy makers: The research questions addressed in this project have been identified through discussion with the International Longevity Centre-UK, a policy think tank, with the explicit intention to ensure the results are policy relevant. We intend that the findings will be relevant not only to ILC-UK, but to policy makers in national and local government as well. They will contribute to the current debates on measures of well-being and its determinants that are taking place both in the UK and internationally. The measures included in the ONS national programme and more widely in OECD initiatives are only the first stage towards understanding and improving the well-being of the population. By identifying specific aspects of social connections that are relevant to well-being in older adults, our findings will be useful in targeting levers for change, and directing policies and initiatives to improve well-being in older adults. This is particularly relevant for an issue such as well-being since a sizable proportion of the variance is likely to be due to genetic factors and structural aspects of society that are difficult to ameliorate, placing greater emphasis on those determinants of well-being that are malleable.

ii) Third-sector organisations: Several voluntary sector organisations and charities have recognised the problem of sustaining well-being in the elderly and the high risk of social exclusion in this group. These include Age UK and the AGE Platform Europe, both of which have highlighted the need for high quality research to support policy and lobbying activities. We anticipate that our findings will contribute to their work, and will help them develop programmes for older adults.

iii) Practitioners: Our findings will be valuable to social and health professionals, carers and volunteers who work with older adults, helping them identify individuals at risk and provide them with appropriate support. If certain types of social connection prove to be particularly valuable in terms of maintaining well-being, it may be possible to target these activities more precisely, and ensure that resources are focused more effectively

iv) Older adults: Not least, the findings will help identify the kinds of social connections that are most beneficial to older people. Many older men and women make substantial social, cultural and economic contributions, and these may be enhanced by measures that improve their health and functional status. Research on social connections and well-being may identify new ways of promoting these goals.

Our work with the ILC-UK will ensure dissemination of these findings at the highest levels of policy-making in the UK and the EU. As ILC-UK is part of the Global Alliance of Longevity Centres, we will also be able to disseminate these findings more widely.