How people get it: Free.
The basics
What it is
- Loneliness is the distressing feeling of being alone or separated.
- Social isolation is having few social contacts and few people to interact with regularly.
- A person can live alone without feeling lonely, or feel lonely around other people.
- The CDC describes social connection as the size and variety of a person's social network and roles, and what those relationships do.
Sources: National Institute on Aging: Loneliness and Social Isolation — Tips for Staying Connected ↗ · CDC: Health Effects of Social Isolation and Loneliness | Social Connection ↗
How it's thought to help
Emotional pain is thought to trigger the same body stress responses as physical pain. When this goes on for a long time, it can cause long-lasting inflammation and weaker immunity.
Source: National Institute on Aging: Loneliness and Social Isolation — Tips for Staying Connected ↗
What the research has found so far
- NIA says studies link loneliness and social isolation to higher risks of heart disease, depression, and cognitive decline (memory and thinking problems).
- NIA says lonely or isolated adults tend to be less healthy, stay longer in hospital, and are more likely to die earlier.
- NIA says studies show volunteering and similar activities may help boost mood, well-being, and cognitive function.
- A 2022 CDC survey in 26 states found 32.1% of adults reported loneliness and 24.1% reported a lack of social and emotional support.
- In that survey, lonely adults had stress 3.61 times as high as adults who were not lonely, after adjustment.
Sources: National Institute on Aging: Loneliness and Social Isolation — Tips for Staying Connected ↗ · CDC: Loneliness, Lack of Social and Emotional Support, and Mental Health Issues — United States, 2022 ↗
On staying socially connected and aging, PubMed lists 513 trials in people, 4,742 studies that watched people over time, 62 animal and lab studies. See the counts and searches
Stage 3 because 2 large (phase 3) trials in people for aging, muscles, bones and mobility or memory and mood have been published.
A stage shows how far research has got, not whether it will work for you. How stages work
Who should be careful
NIA says people in poor health may be more likely to be socially isolated or lonely. The CDC says older adults are more at risk for social isolation.
Sources: National Institute on Aging: Loneliness and Social Isolation — Tips for Staying Connected ↗ · CDC: Health Effects of Social Isolation and Loneliness | Social Connection ↗
Questions to ask your doctor
- Is staying socially connected a good fit for me, given my health and the medicines I take?
- Is there anything I should avoid or watch for, given my health conditions?
- Where should I start, and how much is right for me?
- How would we tell whether it is helping, and when should we review it?
This is general information gathered from the sources listed, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before starting anything new.
What experts say
No expert views collected yet. Each one we add names the person and links to where they said it.
What others are writing
Recent articles about Staying socially connected from health journalists, hospitals and universities. We link to them; we don't write or endorse them.
A lifetime of social ties adds up to healthy aging ↗
“Aging well means both staying healthy and staying connected - they're inseparable.”
A Cornell study links a lifetime of social advantages and connections to slower biological aging and lower inflammation.
Recent research
Hearing, loneliness, and memory linked in older Europeans but not clearly causal
Poorer hearing went with more loneliness and weaker word recall.
Nursing home residents and nursing students may meet in a planned pairing program
This trial will test a six-week program where nursing home residents and nursing students meet weekly.
A method for testing an AI chat companion for lonely older adults
Researchers describe a step-by-step way to build and test an AI companion for older adults.
Childhood hardship linked to poorer aging in Chinese older adults
Adults who had certain hard childhoods were more likely to follow a poorer aging path over eight years.
Lonely older adults felt less lonely after a social robot program that eased their isolation
Researchers looked at who felt less lonely after using a social robot.
Trials
ClinicalTrials.gov lists 657 registered trials that mention Staying socially connected, for any condition (the count in The science below). Here we show the ones about aging. See them all ↗
The science
Counted from PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov on Oct 30, 2026, using one search for Staying socially connected in relation to aging. Each link opens the exact search.
- Randomized trials in people
- 440 search ↗
- Large trials (multicenter or phase 3)
- 57 search ↗
- Phase 3 trials
- 0 search ↗
- Trials in people
- 513 search ↗
- Studies that watched people over time
- 4,742 search ↗
- Animal and lab studies
- 62 search ↗
- Registered trials
- 657 search ↗
PubMed search used
("social isolation"[tiab] OR loneliness[tiab] OR "social connection*"[tiab] OR "social engagement"[tiab] OR "Loneliness"[mh]) AND (aging[tiab] OR ageing[tiab] OR longevity[tiab] OR healthspan[tiab] OR "older adults"[tiab] OR "older people"[tiab] OR elderly[tiab] OR "Aged"[mh])
Counts are search results, so they include some records that only mention Staying socially connected. How we count
Cite or share this page
Longevity Progress. (n.d.). Staying socially connected: Research stage and evidence. Retrieved October 30, 2026, from https://longevityprogress.com/treatments/social-connection
<iframe src="https://longevityprogress.com/embed/stage/social-connection" title="Staying socially connected: research stage on Longevity Progress" width="340" height="72" style="border:0" loading="lazy"></iframe>
The badge shows this treatment's current research stage and links back here. It updates by itself when the stage changes.