Clinical psychologist Dr Suraj Samtani says when he looks at an ageing brain, he doesn’t begin with memory tests or brain scans. He starts with how often someone sees a friend, joins a community activity, or feels they have someone to confide in.
“Social frailty is when we are vulnerable to losing the resources we need to stay socially connected and to fulfil our social needs,” says the UNSW Sydney postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA).
Dr Samtani’s work focuses on the risk of developing dementia. He says the consequences of being socially disconnected as we get older are profound, with social frailty being linked not only to cognitive decline but higher rates of disability and early death.