It’s one thing to live alone, as is increasingly the case among older adults in the United States. It’s another to be socially isolated, which the National Institute on Aging describes as “the lack of social contacts and having few people to interact with regularly.” In fact, many older adults are happy with their “solo” lives yet actively engage in such social activities as clubs, volunteering, or religious organizations. But what if you live alone, are not involved with the outside world, and have little contact or connection with others, whether your peers, family, or even casual acquaintances? For those individuals, the insidious nature of social isolation can be detrimental to their physical and cognitive health. And a new study out of Johns Hopkins describes just how devastating that social isolation can be.

We’ve known for a long time that older adults who live alone and are not socially engaged are at risk for physical, mental, and cognitive health problems in contrast to their socially active counterparts. The authors of this new study, published in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, take that connection one step further and quantify the increased risk of dementia faced by the socially isolated. Over 5000 adults over the age of 65 were enrolled in this study and were followed for 9 years. According to the study parameters, a participant would be given a score based upon “whether or not participants lived alone, talked about “important matters” with two or more people in the past year, attended religious services, or participated in social events. Participants were assigned one point for each item, and those who scored a zero or one were classified as socially isolated.” According to this definition, about 25% of the participants were considered socially isolated. And among those socially isolated, they faced a 28% higher risk of developing dementia than their non-isolated counterparts. While more research needs to be done among a more diverse population to confirm this association, the implications for individuals and society at large are clear: Having social connections and engagements should be a part of everyone’s dementia prevention plan. 

A companion study published in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society highlights one way to address this isolation: Simple technology connections, either through text or email, can help engage the socially isolated and lower the dementia risks. In fact, according to the study authors, adults who had consistent access to this sort of tech communication had a 31% lower risk for social isolation than those who had no access to these options. While researchers are not sure exactly why social isolation increases your risk of dementia, there are lots of well-founded theories. For example, social engagement requires active use of the brain, and as one expert suggests, “The best way to prevent dementia is to actively use the brain and to maintain good overall health.” Another expert has stated that “Socially isolated individuals may lack benefits associated with greater social connectedness, including social support, information-sharing, coordination of healthcare services, and access to those services.” 

Whatever the exact cause, the association between social isolation and the risk of dementia seems clear- and may be another opportunity to intervene to lessen or slow the progression of dementia through easily modifiable behaviors. It’s been suggested that clinicians should ask about social isolation among their patient population as another factor in promoting healthy aging. And along those same lines, technologies that promote social engagement are coming to the market for isolated seniors. For example, at this year’s Consumer Electronic Show, among the tech devices aimed at older populations was a virtual reality platform called Alcove which can promote social engagement among older adults and long-distance family or friends. So if you are the friend or relative of someone who is socially isolated, know that even from a distance, you can have a direct and valuable impact on their physical and cognitive health.