Our research efforts help inform evidence-based policies and interventions aimed at addressing social isolation and loneliness on a population level through the use of large national surveys funded by the National Institute on Aging. These include the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), National Social life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and others.

We are committed to partnering with community-based interventions that foster social connections and combat loneliness among older adults. This includes the evaluation, implementation, and scaling of  innovative programs that promote social engagement and strengthen support networks for older adults. Our partners have included the Institute on Aging Friendship Line, FrontPorch Social Call, Curry Senior Center Peer Outreach Program, and others.

To affect systemic change, we engage in health policy and advocacy at the state and federal levels. We collaborate with policymakers, legislators, and advocacy groups to drive policies that prioritize social connections, address loneliness, and support the well-being of older adults. Our aim is to influence policy agendas and allocate resources effectively to enhance the social infrastructure for older adults. These include the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2020 report and the 2023 Surgeon General Report.

To address social isolation and loneliness among older adults, health systems around the world have increasingly collaborated with community organizations to match older adults to social interventions most relevant to their needs – a process known as “Social Prescribing.” Our study focuses on adapting a social prescribing decision support tool for health systems and community-based organizations, allowing them to match older adults experiencing social isolation and loneliness with social connection programs that best meet their needs. View Ashwin Kotwal's 2025 Gerontological Society of America presentation here.

Our CPR3 project focuses on the impact of peers (trained support specialists that share lived experiences with clients) on social isolation and loneliness among older adults in California during and after the pandemic. Nandini Singh presented at the 2024 Gerontological Society of America (view presentation here). 

Angela Suen, MD and team found that:

• For people with COPD, greater levels of social isolation were associated with a higher risk of mortality.
• Loneliness was not associated with higher mortality.
• Results suggest that assessment of social isolation may be important among persons with COPD.

Learn more here

Katrina Hough presented at the 2024 American Geriatrics Society.

View the presentation here

Curry senior center and the Lab have worked together to evaluate their peer-support program developed to address loneliness and isolation among low-income, urban community-dwelling older adults in San Francisco.

Peer services increasingly gain attention as a resource that can have a significant impact on health, and the Lab is working with several local peer service programs to assess program impact, sustainability and scalability.

Friendship Line (a crisis intervention center and a “warm” line for routine phone calls that provide emotional support and well-being check-ins) and the Lab sought to assess the impact of the intervention on loneliness and depression of callers.