Health effects of social connectedness in older adults living in congregate long-term care settings: A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence.

Most evidence came from cross-sectional studies, so the direction of effect is unclear; longitudinal studies were far fewer. The review could not pool results because social connectedness and outcomes were measured very differently across studies. Only English articles were included, and relevant articles may have been missed. Many included studies excluded residents with cognitive impairment, even though these residents may experience social connectedness deficits most acutely. The review did not extract the funding agency for each included study, so sponsor influence on the primary studies cannot be judged. Race or ethnicity was often not reported, limiting how well the findings apply to all residents. Some studies relied on nursing home staff to report residents' information, which may affect accuracy.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The paper does not state a funding source for the review.

Do not conclude that adding visits, activities, or social programmes will improve residents' health. Most evidence came from one-time comparisons, and some visit patterns were associated with worse quality metrics or faster death.