Impact of Social Connections on Well-Being of Older Adults

Dear Colleagues,

With the rapid advance of technology and overall emphasis on efficiency in modern society, in-person social connection and social support have become less available or accessible. In this context, individuals have become more socially isolated and interpersonally disconnected than ever. As a result, the experience of loneliness is drastically increasing, especially among older adults who typically experience a reduction in their social network and social support.

The literature in this field has revealed some negative psychological outcomes (i.e., increased anxiety levels) of loneliness, and this relationship could be buffered by perceived social support or social connection. Given this, it is crucial to address the impact of social connection/support on older adults’ wellbeing and develop prevention or intervention programs to enhance a sense of social connection among this population. This is especially urgent in the post-pandemic era because social connection drastically reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it is important to acknowledge that it takes time for older adults to recover and adjust back to their in-person social routines.

This Special Issue will address these questions by determining the risk predictors and wellbeing outcomes of social connection and loneliness among older adults who are most vulnerable to social disconnection.

We are pleased to invite you to submit your research manuscripts to this Special Issue. Your contribution will inform clinicians and researchers on the risk factors and wellbeing consequences of social disconnection and loneliness among older adults. The results will inform professionals working with older adults on their clinical, community, and/or social practice.

This Special Issue aims to publish a collection of research reviews and original research articles to address the aforementioned research questions, with a specific focus on risk factors, mechanisms, social context, prevention and intervention, as well as healthcare or community policies and practices related to social connection and wellbeing among older adults.

Research themes and article types featured in this Special Issue will include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Reviews and meta-analyses of studies on social connection and wellbeing of older adults.
• Validation studies of existing assessment tools on social connection for older adults.
• Cross-sectional or longitudinal studies assessing the wellbeing impact of social connection in older adults.
• Research studies to determine the underlying factors/mechanisms and practice/training to enhance social connection among older adults.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Lixia Yang
Dr. Kateryna Metersky
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• social connection
• social engagement
• social support
• wellbeing
• health
• aging
• older adults