Evidence base
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System
What it found
This 2020 consensus report from the National Academies finds that approximately one quarter of adults aged 65 and older are socially isolated, and calls on the health care system to routinely assess social isolation and loneliness among older patients.
Why it matters for practice
This report establishes the case for embedding social isolation assessment into routine clinical practice, but it stops short of specifying validated tools or workflows, so readers building a screening protocol will need to pair it with implementation guidance from elsewhere.