Men over 50 years old more likely to be 'socially isolated'

Males who are over 50 are more prone to be being cut-off from society, a study has said

10:59 01 April 2013

A study by the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) group found that when it comes to keeping in touch with modern-day society, men who are over the age of 50 are more likely to be ‘socially isolated’.

 

The research involved around 10,000 Brits and it spanned over ten years. The findings suggest that one sixth of people in England over 50 fitted this bracket.

 

In particular, single men were claimed to be the most socially inward after the age of 50. One reason for this could be that the individual have fewer social past-times, or that they engage less than others in the community.

 

One way in which an individual can keep in touch with other members of society is by maintaining their social networks.

 

Researchers from University College London were involved in the study among others. The research suggested that those people who had less wealth were also more likely to be socially isolated than others.

 

There were claims that people from more rural areas may be less sociable than others. Some people could regard a person’s access to transport as being a factor in this.

 

Professor Andrew Steptoe previously said: “These remarkable findings became even more astonishing when it became clear that the link between psychological well-being and long term health and survival was independent of other factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, wealth, education and baseline health.”

 

Recently there has been much debate about our society in regards to it ageing. All individuals can make a connection with their community by pursuing a hobby, for example, among other things.