Abstract
Social integration has well-established health benefits among older adults in observational studies. However, interventions designed to increase social integration have not improved health suggesting important knowledge gaps on how social integration influences health outcomes. This study developed a new measure of social integration, daily social contact, capturing the interpersonal nature of social integration and mobility of individuals, and providing a direct assessment of individuals’ real-time access to companionship and social support. The data used is the 2006-2007 American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which surveyed 25,191 individuals aged 15 years and older (n = 4378 aged 65 years and older). Generalized ordinal logistic regression analyses revealed positive, but non-parallel relationships between daily social contacts and the ordinal categories of self-rated health among older adults. This study may be used to identify populations that experience social exclusion, such that future research can determine more precisely how to intervene to improve health outcomes.
Highlights
Level of integration with society affects how people age
This study developed a new measure of social integration consolidating measures employed in the above two groups of studies in order to capture the multidimensional nature of social integration
Our study developed a new measure of social integration, which captured the interpersonal nature of social activities and incorporated mobility of individuals, provided a direct assessment of individuals’ real-time access to companionship and social support
Summary
Level of integration with society affects how people age. Older adults are considered to be vulnerable to social exclusion [1]. Traditional methods for evaluating the association between social integration and the health of seniors typically relies on data obtained from standardized health surveys, which ask about the number of friends and relatives seen routinely and the frequency of participation in activities (such as clubs or religious organizations), but do not provide information about actual social activity participation. It is difficult, if not impossible, to use such data to examine seniors’ daily level of social contact, not to mention their real access to companionship and social support
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