As individuals age, their mental and physical well-being can be affected by impairments. Previous research on social participation in older adults has been limited in scope, focusing on specific activities. In contrast, we propose that social participation is a resource optimization process for older adults, where different forms of participation must be optimized to improve well-being. Using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, we find that online social participation has a U-shaped effect on loneliness, while personal-oriented offline social participation mitigates this effect. Our findings have implications for the design of aging support programs and the use of technology to promote mental well-being in different stages of advanced age.

Image courtesy of interviewee. December 15, 2023