Will the Internet Help Your Parents to Live Longer? Isolation, Longevity, Health, Death, and Skype(TM)

We explore the connections among longevity, isolation, health, mortality, and technology. Today's discussion focuses on two facets of longevity, isolation, and health. First, because isolation and loneliness have twice the impact on early death as obesity, we briefly assess the mechanisms throu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of financial service professionals 2015-03, Vol.69 (2), p.21
Main Author: Cutler, Neal E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Impact analysis
Internet
Mortality
Older parents
Social change
Studies
Technology adoption
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We explore the connections among longevity, isolation, health, mortality, and technology. Today's discussion focuses on two facets of longevity, isolation, and health. First, because isolation and loneliness have twice the impact on early death as obesity, we briefly assess the mechanisms through which social isolation affects the health of older men and women. Second, we look at a twenty-first century response to older-age isolation: the Internet. There is solid evidence that Internet use among older persons serves to reduce isolation -- including such positive health outcomes as reducing depression.
ISSN:1537-1816
2381-8875