Health, wellbeing & social connection
Research and practical resources examining how social connection, isolation, community support, and referral pathways influence health, wellbeing, care, and aging.
From Loneliness to Social Connection: Charting a Path to Healthier Societies
World Health Organization, 2025
A global report making the case for social connection as a public-health priority and examining its relationship to physical health, mental health, wellbeing, education, and wider social outcomes.
Read the report: From Loneliness to Social Connection
Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2020
A major consensus report examining the health effects of social isolation and loneliness in later life, and the role healthcare systems can play in identifying risk, improving assessment, and connecting people with social support.
Read the report: Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults
Can Social Prescribing Foster Individual and Community Well-Being? A Systematic Review of the Evidence
Reinhardt and colleagues, 2021
A systematic review of 51 studies examining social prescribing across individual, healthcare-system, and community outcomes, including loneliness, social isolation, wellbeing, and connectedness.
Read the study: Can Social Prescribing Foster Individual and Community Well-Being?
Loneliness and Social Isolation
National Institute on Aging
A practical overview of the distinction between loneliness and social isolation, their health risks, common risk factors in later life, and ways older adults and caregivers can strengthen social connection.
Explore the resource: Loneliness and Social Isolation
Medicare Spends More on Socially Isolated Older Adults
AARP Public Policy Institute, 2017
A study examining the relationship between social isolation and healthcare spending among older adults. It found that limited social contact was associated with an estimated $6.7 billion in additional Medicare spending annually, highlighting the financial as well as health consequences of disconnection.
Read the report: Medicare Spends More on Socially Isolated Older Adults