Table 3. Top Five Practice-Based Suggestions for a Social Isolation Research Agenda.

Practitioner Priorities	Potential Research
Priority 1: The need to  understand and increase  service utilization by older  adults who do not currently  accept services even when  services are free	Social demographic characteristics of the socially  isolated older adult population
	Cultural barriers to service utilization among  immigrants
	Service resistance by some homebound older adults,  and strategies to overcome resistance
	Relevance and acceptability for more older adults
	Plans for the increasing number of older, single adults
Priority 2: Development of a  social isolation measure with  specific emphasis on  identifying isolated older  adults during a crisis	Measure subjective, objective, and cognitive aspects  of isolation, degree and duration of isolation,  multiple symptoms, and whether isolation is self-  or circumstantially imposed
	Focus on highest risk
	Normalize on older adults
	Design for easy use in clinical settings
Priority 3: Evaluate one-to-one  direct contact or indirect  contact interventions	Compare person-centered, one-to-one social service  programs to medical interventions
	Evaluate role of intentional relationship building in  existing support interventions
	Study social support benefits of existing services, for  example, meals on wheels
	Match interventions to different types of social isolation
	Determine when group interventions, one-to-one  contact, and indirect contact are most appropriate
Priority 4: Efficacy studies of  multicomponent interventions	Design interventions that address multiple aspects and  causes of social isolation among older adults
Priority 5: Research that reflects  respect for continuing self-  determination in older  adulthood	Design interventions that preserve dignity, that is,  allow for support reciprocity
	Promote interventions with families who unintentionally  isolate older relatives from friends and community