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Senior Centers as Critical Partners in Social Engagement

Join us for a webinar on September 15 at 3:00 pm ET focused on promoting social engagement in senior centers. During the webinar the National Institute of Senior Centers will highlight the integral role of senior centers in developing innovative and creative social engagement opportunities for older adults. Attendees will also hear from Duxbury Senior Center and the City of Calabasas Senior Center on the local social engagement programs they are implementing to engage mind, body and spirit to promote older adult health and well-being. Speakers will also share their insights into the latest efforts to re-open and their vision for future programming. 

Combating Isolation: Lessons Learned from Centers for Independent Living and Leading Advocates

This month’s engAGED blog post focuses on lessons learned about combating isolation from Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and leading advocates. Written by an engAGED Project Advisory Committee member, Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) & the National Center for Aging and Disability at TIRR Memorial Hermann Research Center, the blog post focuses on the serious isolation experienced by individuals with disabilities and how CILs have adapted to continue providing meaningful interactions and core services. The blog post highlights key examples of these adaptations and the importance of advocacy to remove the underlying causes of isolation faced by people with disabilities, such as discrimination and inaccessibility. To learn more, read the full blog post that includes research, ILRU training resources and webinars about conducting systems advocacy.

WHO Advocacy Brief on Social Isolation

The World Health Organization has released a new advocacy brief that highlights widespread social isolation and loneliness experienced by older people globally. The advocacy brief summarizes the scale and impact of social isolation and loneliness among older people and proposes a strategy to address this during the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021–2030, a global collaboration that aims to improve the lives of older people, their families and their communities. The three-point strategy includes increasing the political priority of social isolation and loneliness, improving research and the evidence base for effective interventions, and implementing and scaling up effective interventions. Read the full brief to learn more about promising interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness and policy opportunities to tackle these issues.

The Epidemiology of Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Adults During the Last Years of Life



The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society recently published a study that investigated the prevalence of social isolation and loneliness among older adults in late life, and the correlation between the two. While the study found that both social isolation and loneliness are commonly experienced at the end of life, affecting approximately one in four older adults, results showed that relatively few people experience both. The study also found that rates of social isolation and loneliness were higher for older adults who were poor and experienced functional or sensory impairment. These findings can inform further end-of-life research and practices that promote social needs and well-being at the end of life. To learn more about the study and its findings, read the study here.

Free, Virtual Series Offered by Social Health Labs: Connect+Conversations

The Social Health Labs' Connect+Conversations program explores how to address the loneliness epidemic and promote social health by convening researchers, community leaders and anyone who is committed to a more connected society. The monthly conversations center around different community sectors and the role they can play in combating isolation and loneliness, promoting connection and prioritizing social well-being. September’s conversation will focus on ways that schools can promote belonging and social health from a young age. Upcoming topics will include health care and social prescribing practices, opportunities to alleviate loneliness through federal, state and local programming and the social role of technology. To view the full schedule and read about featured speakers, visit the Connect+Conversations webpage.

engAGED’s Partner OATS is a Webby Honoree



Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) has been a partner of engAGED since 2017, providing support and insight into the role of technology in the social engagement of older adults. This year, OATS’s website, SeniorPlanet.org was honored for Best Community Websites and Mobile Sites as part of the 25^th Annual Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. This honor was granted to sites that create and facilitate online community, connectedness and communication around shared interests. Read more about it here and visit SeniorPlanet.org to access free resources to support your organization’s social engagement work. 

Older Adult Learning and Technology: Best Practices and Resources

Our August webinar focused on older adult learning and technology. Speakers shared their insights into how providing opportunities for older adults to develop and expand their technology knowledge and skills helps support social engagement. Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) offered options and best practices for teaching technology to older adults, and shared key resources for hybrid in-person and online learning. The National Resource Center for Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes presented key statistics on their learning centers and educational opportunities they offer to older adults, with an emphasis on technology training and online learning opportunities. Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging shared information on its Bridging the Digital Divide program, which focuses on tailoring technology training and engagement for older adult audiences.

Blog: Harnessing the Power of Technology to Boost Social EngAGEment—and Physical and Mental Health

In addition to catching up on the August webinar, be sure to check out a recent blog post that OATS has written about the need for social engagement among older people and the special role that technology can play in facilitating connection. The blog post takes a deeper dive into the linkage between technology and purpose, provides an overview of best practices for teaching technology to older adults and links to valuable resources.

• TechSAge recently released Guidelines for delivering telewellness programs to older adults with disabilities, a new tool developed as part of a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. The tool provides guidelines and key considerations for designing and implementing wellness classes delivered via video conferencing for older adults with disabilities.
• Road to Resilience, a podcast produced by the Mount Sinai Health System, recently hosted Dr. Louise Hawkley, PhD, an expert on social isolation and loneliness. During the “Only the Lonely” episode, Dr. Hawkley speaks to the serious consequences of the loneliness epidemic on our health and society. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, estimates suggested 22 percent to as high as 61 percent of adults feel lonely. Dr. Hawkley breaks down the vicious cycle of loneliness, weighs in on the role of social media and offers advice on breaking pandemic-related social isolation.
• The Older Adults’ Equity Collaborative (OAEC) Resource Library, developed through an Administration for Community Living grant, collects digital materials from OAEC member organizations to provide tools, guidance and resources on a variety of topics, including social isolation and mental health, to Aging Network providers serving diverse communities.

• HITLAB and AARP Innovation Labs Select Seven Finalists to Pitch During 2021 Social Connections Challenge (AARP, July 13, 2021)
• Helping Seniors cope with isolation (WCNC Charlotte, July 15, 2021)
• Animal Assisted Therapy: Drawing out older adults (ABC 11, July 21, 2021)
• Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Emerging from the pandemic of loneliness (CNN Health, July 27, 2021)
• Countering Isolation With Creativity (Stanford Social Innovation Review, July 27, 2021)
• Loneliness Raises Opioid Dangers in Seniors: Study (U.S. News & World Report, July 29, 2021)
• Senior living residents can show us a way out of the pandemic blues (The Dallas Morning News, July 31, 2021)
• Why closing technology gap for older adults matters (Cherokee Phoenix, August 3, 2021)
• Joint Study with Meals on Wheels America on Effective Modes of Meal Delivery Receives $4M in Funding (Brown School of Public Health, August 4, 2021)

• Webinar Series: Commit+Conversations (Presented by Social Health Labs, Ongoing Series)
• engAGED Webinar: Promoting Social Engagement in Senior Centers: Local Examples and Looking Ahead (September 15, 2021 at 3:00 pm ET)
• Webinar: Advancing Social Connections for All (Presented by Grantmakers In Aging and Grantmakers In Health, September 23, 2021 at 4:00 pm ET)