Relevant Research

Intergenerational programs improve perceptions of aging, positively impact the health and well-being of all participants, and reduce risk of financial exploitation. The following are selected articles and other references documenting the need for, and the positive impact of, intergenerational programs and social connection. 

* US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's Parting Prescription for America: Choose Community, January 7, 2025.

* Gallup Poll on Global Loneliness, July 10, 2024.

* How Social Connection Supports Longevity, December 18, 2023.

* US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declares loneliness and social disconnectedness a public health crisis, May 3, 2023.

* The impact of ageism on health and health care: A research roundup and explainer, Kristin Senz, The Journalists Resource, Nov. 14, 2022.

* How America's ageism hurts, shortens lives of elderly, Becca Levy, 2022.

* Lonely Older Adults with Low Cognition at Greater Risk for Poor Financial and Healthcare Decision Making, Angelita Williams, FINRA Investor Education Foundation, March 22, 2021.

* US government estimates that 162,000 Americans die from loneliness and social isolation annually, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation interview with Dilip Jeste, MD, January 13, 2021. 

* Social connection is the strongest protective factor for depression, Massachusetts General Hospital, American Journal of Psychiatry, 2020.

* Together, The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, Vivek H. Murthy, MD, 19th Surgeon General of the United States, HarperCollins 2020. 

* 66% of college students struggle with loneliness with 83% reporting that mental health impacts are negatively impacting academic performance, Sarah Ketchen Lipson, Healthy Minds Study, Fall 2020.

* Loneliness is Crippling Employee Productivity, Jason Wingard 2020, Forbes. (Lonely workers take twice as many sick days and demonstrate less commitment and weaker performance.)

* Loneliness is at an Epidemic Level in America, CIGNA 2020.

* Loneliness and Social Isolation Linked to Serious Health Conditions, CDC. 

* Association of Social Contact with Dementia and Cognition: 28-year follow-up of the Whitehall II cohort study, Andrew Sommerlad et al., PLOS Medicine Journal, August 2, 2019.

* Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older People Pose Health Risks, US Dept. of Health & Human Services National Institute on Aging Report, April 23, 2019.

* What is Positive Aging?: 10 Tips to Promote the Positive Aspects of Aging. Kori Miller, PositivePsychologyProgram.com, March 8, 2019. 

* Ageism Amplifies Cost and Prevalence of Health Conditions, Becca R. Levy, et al., The Gerontologist, November 13, 2018.

* Loneliness increases risk of dementia by 40%, Angelina Sutin, et al., published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, October 26, 2018. 

* Loneliness and Social Connections: A National Survey of Adults 45 and Older, AARP Foundation, 2018.

* CIGNA US Loneliness Index Fact Sheet, 2018.

* Intergenerational Programs: The Missing Link in Today's Aging Initiatives, Andrea J. Fonte Weaver, et al., Bridges Together, 2018.

* Positive age beliefs protect against dementia even among elders with high-risk gene, Becca R. Levy, et al., PLOS ONE Journal, February 7, 2018.

*  How loneliness in older people makes them more vulnerable to financial scammers, Keith Brown, et al., The Conversation, July 12, 2017.

* Advancing Social Connection as a Public Health Priority in the United States, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, et al., American Psychological Association, 2017.

* I Need You and You Need Me: The Young, The Old, and What We Can Achieve Together, Background Paper by Generations United and the Eisner Foundation, May 2017.

* Intergenerational Programs: What They Are and Why We Need Them, Andrea J. Fonte Weaver, Bridges Together, Winter 2016. 

* Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-Analytic Review, Julainne Holt-Lunstad, et al., National Library of Medicine, 2015.

* Loneliness has a Direct Impact on Healthcare Utilization, Kerstin Gerson-Emerson and Jayani Jayawardhana, American Journal of Public Health, May 2015.

* Making Connections: The Legacy of an Intergenerational Program, Edward H. Thompson and Andrea J. Weaver, The Gerontologist, 2015, 1–11.  

* Prescription for Living Longer; Spend Less Time Alone, Brigham Young University News, March 10, 2015, citing Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010) study: Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review. (Impact of social isolation = smoking 15 cigarettes/day.)

* Longevity Increased by Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging, Becca R. Levy, et al., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002, Vol. 83, No. 2, 261–270.