Grant: Summer Program in Aging

Socially frail older adults have lost or are at risk of losing resources, activities, or abilities (e.g., family ties, financial situation, volunteering, feeling empowered) that fulfill their basic social needs (i.e., affection, behavioural confirmation, status). Social frailty is an understudied area of research even though it can increase the risk of death and decrease physical and cognitive functioning and quality of life. To my knowledge, there is no research evidence on how older adults with different sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, sex, gender, ethnicity) experience social frailty or how to prevent or improve it. To address these research gaps, I will lead three studies. First, I will interview socially frail older adults of different age, sex, gender, race, and income to understand their lived experience. Second, I will review the published health literature to identify which strategies best help to reduce or prevent social frailty in older adults. Third, I will use the information from the first two studies to develop and refine a checklist that will outline the components that should be included in a future intervention to improve social frailty in diverse older adults. As part of this last step, I will survey a wide range of knowledge users (e.g., researchers, clinicians, socially frail older adults) to ensure that the content in the checklist is comprehensive and appropriate. Taken together, this work will increase the knowledge about social frailty and promote the development of a future solution to address social frailty, particularly in older adults with diverse age, sex, gender, race, and income. By understanding the social frailty experiences of this population and how these experiences impact their health, we can more effectively address their challenges and needs, which can ultimately improve their health and wellbeing.