COTA SA’s The Plug-in, supported by Office for Ageing Well and Wellbeing SA, undertook a project exploring experiences of older people making social connections.
The Plug-in reviewed the research on older people’s social connections and tested how much this research reflected real-life experiences of older South Australians. We did this through conducting focus groups and a state-wide survey.
We spoke with a wide range of older South Australians to understand how people successfully connect in social circles. We also explored what gets in the way of making social connections, including friendship connections, but also with neighbours and acquaintances in community settings.
We also consulted community groups who run social programs to understand what they felt was effective for organisations to do when supporting older people to be involved in their community.
The insights and experiences that were shared with us by older South Australians and community organisations have been collated and used to develop a set of ‘guiding principles’ to support older people to make meaningful social connections, and suggested actions that both individuals and organisations can undertake.
You can read the guide here: Guiding Principles for Social Connections
Thank you to all of those who participated in the research, as well as those who promoted and shared our project with the community. We would like to thank Office for Ageing Well and Wellbeing SA for their ongoing support of The Plug-in and COTA SA.
