About this Research Topic
The new Aging and Public Health section of Frontiers in Public Health is seeking papers for a Research Topic focusing on technological innovation to address social isolation and loneliness in older adults. An issue that is even more relevant in the post-COVID-19 outbreak world where many may have to continue their practice of social distancing. The Research Topic will explore emerging solutions and opportunities for using innovative technologies for assessing social isolation and loneliness and it impacts on physical, mental, and social health, as well as for engaging and helping persons with social isolation and loneliness.
While there is mounting evidence that social isolation and loneliness pose a direct and indirect threat to older adults’ health, health-related quality of life, and mortality, challenges remain to find cost-effective solutions to both evaluate such impact with real-time data and deliver the intervention to improve social connection and support, thus reducing social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Technological innovation has become one of the key driving forces to enable evaluation, monitoring, control, and systematic reduction of social isolation and/or loneliness (SI/L), thus consequently contributing to the overall health of older adults.
We welcome submission of papers on, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Variations in technology use by personal, social, or environmental factors;
• Preferences for, and attitudes toward, using technology to address S/IL;
• Innovative technology for assessing and monitoring SI/L;
• Innovative technology for assessing the impact of SI/L on health-related behavior, physical and health, quality of life and/or longevity;
• Development, implementation, and evaluation of different intervention approaches to reduce SI/L among older adults, such as using social media for delivering intervention, social robots, virtual reality technology, or gaming technology;
• Case studies of technology use describing barriers and facilitators to implementation, scalability or sustained use;
• International applications of technology use related to S/IL.
We would like to acknowledge Mr. Quentin McCollum, College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, who is the Research Topic Coordinator and has contributed to the management of this collection.
While there is mounting evidence that social isolation and loneliness pose a direct and indirect threat to older adults’ health, health-related quality of life, and mortality, challenges remain to find cost-effective solutions to both evaluate such impact with real-time data and deliver the intervention to improve social connection and support, thus reducing social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Technological innovation has become one of the key driving forces to enable evaluation, monitoring, control, and systematic reduction of social isolation and/or loneliness (SI/L), thus consequently contributing to the overall health of older adults.
We welcome submission of papers on, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Variations in technology use by personal, social, or environmental factors;
• Preferences for, and attitudes toward, using technology to address S/IL;
• Innovative technology for assessing and monitoring SI/L;
• Innovative technology for assessing the impact of SI/L on health-related behavior, physical and health, quality of life and/or longevity;
• Development, implementation, and evaluation of different intervention approaches to reduce SI/L among older adults, such as using social media for delivering intervention, social robots, virtual reality technology, or gaming technology;
• Case studies of technology use describing barriers and facilitators to implementation, scalability or sustained use;
• International applications of technology use related to S/IL.
We would like to acknowledge Mr. Quentin McCollum, College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, who is the Research Topic Coordinator and has contributed to the management of this collection.
Keywords: technological innovation, social isolation, loneliness in older adults, Covid-19, social distancing
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
