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Social frailty in older adults: a scoping review

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Abstract

Social frailty is a rather unexplored concept. In this paper, the concept of social frailty among older people is explored utilizing a scoping review. In the first stage, 42 studies related to social frailty of older people were compiled from scientific databases and analyzed. In the second stage, the findings of this literature were structured using the social needs concept of Social Production Function theory. As a result, it was concluded that social frailty can be defined as a continuum of being at risk of losing, or having lost, resources that are important for fulfilling one or more basic social needs during the life span. Moreover, the results of this scoping review indicate that not only the (threat of) absence of social resources to fulfill basic social needs should be a component of the concept of social frailty, but also the (threat of) absence of social behaviors and social activities, as well as (threat of) the absence of self-management abilities. This conception of social frailty provides opportunities for future research, and guidelines for practice and policy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Group Healthy Ageing, Allied Health Care and Nursing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Eyssoniusplein 18, 9714 CE, Groningen, The Netherlands

    S. Bunt, C. P. van der Schans & J. S. M. Hobbelen

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    C. P. van der Schans

  3. Department of Sociology, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    N. Steverink

  4. Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    N. Steverink

  5. Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    J. Olthof

  6. Research Group Rehabilitation, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands

    J. Olthof

  7. Department of General Practice and Elderly Care Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    J. S. M. Hobbelen

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  1. S. Bunt
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  2. N. Steverink
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  3. J. Olthof
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  4. C. P. van der Schans
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  5. J. S. M. Hobbelen
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Correspondence to S. Bunt.

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Responsible editor: H. Litwin

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Bunt, S., Steverink, N., Olthof, J. et al. Social frailty in older adults: a scoping review. Eur J Ageing 14, 323–334 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-017-0414-7

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