Key Takeaways
- Socially engaged seniors live longer
- Seniors with high or medium social engagement are 42% and 47% less likely to die than loners
- Volunteer or charity work provided the biggest protection against death
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Seniors who stay socially engaged are much more likely to have longer lives, a new study says.
Social engagement among seniors is associated with a lower risk of death, when compared to seniors who are loners, according to findings published May 21 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Such social engagement includes interacting with others, participating in sports or hobby groups or doing charity work, researchers said.
“Staying socially active is more than a lifestyle choice. It is closely linked to healthier aging and longevity,” lead researcher Dr. Ashraf Abugroun, an assistant professor at the University of California – San Francisco, said in a news release.
For the study, researchers tracked nearly 2,300 Americans 60 and older taking part in an ongoing study of health and retirement. The participants all came from the 2016 wave of the study.
As part of the project, participants filled out questionnaires tracking their lifestyles, including their social activities.
Researchers broke the seniors into three groups based on whether they had high, moderate or low social engagement, then analyzed whether their sociability had any bearing on their health or longevity.
The results showed that high and moderate social engagement both lowered the risk of death, by 42% and 47%, compared to low sociability.
Specific types of social engagement predicted a reduced risk of dying, including:
- 51% lower risk for volunteer or charity work.
- 28% lower risk with participating in social or sports clubs.
- 18% lower risk if seniors played with their grandkids.
Staying social appears to slow down a person’s biological aging, researchers said. It also promotes more physical activity among seniors, providing them a health boost.
“These results underscore how participating in community life contributes to better health in older adults,” Abugroun said.
More information
The National Institute on Aging has more on remaining social while aging.
SOURCE: Wiley, news release, May 21, 2025
What This Means For You
Seniors should try to find social activities they enjoy, as remaining connected can help them live longer.