A 10-YEAR SCOPING REVIEW OF PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AMONG HEALTHY OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

This scoping review aims to explore the current evidence regarding participation in social activities among healthy older adults and the types of social activities. The Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases were used to search for potential studies published from 2013 to 2023, and 24 studies met our inclusion criteria. The findings revealed variability in the types and number of social activities utilized in the included studies. This review has identified three main categories of social activities: formal social activities, informal social activities, and online social activities. Formal social activities can be further categorized into four sub-categories: participation in religious activities, participation in senior citizen clubs or senior centers, participation in education classes or programs, and participation in community groups, associations, or organizations. On the contrary, informal social activities can be categorized into seven sub-categories: connecting with family or relatives, connecting with friends, connecting with the community, participating in leisure activities, participating in outdoor activities, participating in indoor activities, and participating in physical activities. In conclusion, this review has identified critical and up-to-date evidence on social activities participated in by healthy older adults. With the growing attention on promoting successful aging, the results gathered from this review can significantly inform various community stakeholders in planning strategies to cultivate social participation among this population group.