In-person contact helps lead to lower levels of loneliness in older people, but other ways of staying in touch, such as phoning, emailing or texting were not as effective, a recent study found. The findings have implications for the health and well-being of many older people, according to the authors.

Researchers have long known that regular social contact is important for mental and physical health and contributes to longevity in older age, while loneliness has been linked with heart disease, cognitive decline and even premature death. Although many older adults face chronic health conditions and mobility issues that may make in-person contact more difficult, the new study suggests that in-person contact is an important component of any widespread effort to address loneliness in older adults.

The study was conducted in the Austin, Texas, area in 2016 and 2017, before the COVID-19 pandemic expanded the use of digital communications for many people and also increased levels of isolation for many older people. But even after the pandemic, a sizable proportion of older adults do not own smartphones or use the internet.

The researchers followed more than 300 people over the age of 65 and asked them every three waking hours about levels of loneliness and social contact, including whether that social contact was in person, by phone or digitally, which the researchers defined as texting or connecting via social media. They also examined whether the social contact was between people with close or weak social ties.

They found that in-person contact -- even with someone with whom they had only weak ties, such as an acquaintance -- was predictive of lower levels of loneliness better than, say, a phone call with a family member or friend with whom ties were stronger.

 "Phone and digital contact do not provide older adults with the same emotional closeness and comfort as in-person contact," said study coauthor Shiyang Zhang of the University of Texas at Austin. "It's just not a substitute."

To download the study, published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B Psychological Science, click here