• Repeated studies from different settings around the world have demonstrated convincing protective effects in terms of cognitive health as people age from having more social contacts, including simply being married, with intriguing evidence in some studies that the more social contacts people have, the stronger this effect.
• It is much harder to show that increasing social contact as people age produces benefits in terms of reducing rates of existing cognitive decline.
• However, experts agree that it is important to ensure that people do not become isolated and lonely as they get older.

There is a lot of research on this topic.

• Some people focus on the amount of social contact we have and a general theme is that the more contact people have with others, the better it is for our health – however we all recognise that it is also possible to have too much contact to the point of getting exhausted!
• Some people focus on the quality of the relationships we have and the kinds of contact we have with others.  If our relationships are trusting and sustaining and the interactions we have with others are positive, this boosts human well-being, but the reverse is also true: negative contact can hurt us.
• Others focus on the cultural aspects of social connections and highlight how important it is that we are part of networks that reflect our upbringing, culture, language, and the values and traditions we share with other people.
• Another way of thinking about this is measuring people’s social standing and social capital, for example, how respected people are and how much others are willing to do to support them.

Researchers have also highlighted how ‘one size does not fit all’ – different people have different needs in relation to the right amount, best quality, cultural appropriateness, and social standing that results from their contact with and relationships with others.

• Research generally shows that the higher the amount of social contact and social connectedness people have, the more well-being they have as they age and the better their health is.  For example, being married throughout most of a person’s adult life is associated with a range of positive health outcomes.
• Research has also highlighted how common loneliness is and how harmful this is for the health of older people.  Did you know that the United Kingdom has a governmental “Loneliness Strategy” because it agrees that this is such a major problem across the whole of British society?
• In New Zealand we have a special understanding of the importance of culture because Māori have strongly championed the benefits of understanding and meeting the needs of tangata whenua in relation to maintaining te reo and strengthening tikanga Māori in general, as well as the health benefits Māori can experience from working with Māori health practitioners and receiving their health and social care from kaupapa Māori services.

• Dementia can increase a person’s isolation because people with dementia gradually experience reduced social confidence and social skills including language. 
• They can also lose the ability to participate in or travel to the social activities they previously enjoyed.  
• The stigmatising attitudes of others can mean that their previous contacts avoid contact with them and new contacts are less likely to invest time in them.
• Tom Kitwood’s ground-breaking research strongly highlighted how positive social relationships and ways of communicating benefit people with dementia and negative relationships and communication styles harm them, even to the point of reversing or speeding up functional decline.