Social Connection and Health Across Adulthood and Later Life
Please join us for an SBS seminar session led by Visiting Professor, Dr. Anthony Ong, as he discusses the importance of social connection, a central determinant of health across the life course. This talk synthesizes evidence on age-related patterns in loneliness and social isolation, the ways pandemic conditions disrupted connection, and why mismatches between objective isolation and subjective loneliness (social asymmetry) carry distinct health risks. Comments on the construct of cumulative social advantage—a multidimensional profile of sustained connections across family, community, religious/civic, and emotional domains—will be made, showing that stronger profiles are associated with slower biological aging and a lower inflammatory burden.
Speaker Information
Anthony Ong
Organizers
ⓘ Harvard Chan School hosts a diverse array of speakers, invited to share both scholarly research and personal perspectives. They do not speak for the School, and hosting them does not imply endorsement of their views, organizations, or employers.