Social isolation in the elderly

摘要

There is much evidence to suggest that good social relationships are essential for human wellbeing. This article explores how social isolation and loneliness can adversely affect health, and what we can do as doctors to tackle this emerging problem.Social isolation is defined as 'the objective absence of social contacts and social connectedness' (Goodman, Adams, Swift, 2015). In contrast, loneliness is defined as a subjective negative experience caused by a perceived inadequacy of social relationships (Goodman et al., 2015).