‘Virtual’ Socializing Greatly Eases Isolation in Seniors with Dementia
Researchers analyzed 1,900 virtual group events and found the strongest predictor of social engagement was the number of people actively speaking.
More than 55 million people worldwide live with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), placing a heavy burden on families and health care. Social isolation is a major – and preventable – risk factor, linked to faster cognitive decline and even early death. ADRD symptoms often worsen isolation, creating a harmful cycle. As isolation grows, especially among older adults, effective social interventions are urgently needed.
To identify ways to boost social engagement in older adults with ADRD, Florida Atlantic University researchers observed virtual group sessions led by FAU’s , a nurse-led adult day program in the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. Participants aged 65 and older with mild to moderate ADRD were guided by younger facilitators.
Using data on group behavior, activities and participant makeup, researchers built regression models to identify what drives higher engagement. To analyze these interactions, the team developed a coding system to pinpoint key moments – called “events” – where meaningful exchanges occurred.
An interdisciplinary team of nurse scientists and complexity researchers led the study, applying concepts like group dynamics, third-party stimulation and coordination. Their findings, published in the journal , reveal how engagement emerges – or fades – in social settings, offering new strategies to reduce isolation and support cognitive health in older adults with ADRD.
The study identified several key factors that enhance social engagement. The strongest predictor of engagement was the number of participants actively involved, aligning with complexity science ideas that diverse, dynamic groups foster richer interactions. Even participants who spoke less still contributed meaningfully, showing that limited speech does not equal disengagement.
Behaviors such as humor, encouragement and affirmations were closely linked to higher engagement, while surprisingly, acoustic-prosodic entrainment (matching speech rhythms) showed no clear effect in this virtual setting.
The study also identified specific stimuli – like singing, pets and open, nonjudgmental discussions on topics like court cases – that sparked longer, spontaneous conversations. Participants became more comfortable over time, suggesting rapport builds through repeated sessions.
Notably, detailed time-based analysis revealed rare but powerful moments of extended conversation triggered by specific topics or visual cues (e.g., showing a pet cat on camera, singing missing song lyrics). These moments ranked among the longest speech durations and often reoccurred without any prompting, indicating genuine participant interest.
Certain types of games also drove higher interaction. Egalitarian, improvised games like Boggle, where all players contributed equally, resulted in participants speaking more than 40% of the session time – much higher than in more structured or unevenly led activities.
“One of the greatest strengths of our study is the amount of data we were able to collect,” said , Ph.D., senior author and an associate professor of physics, FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “We analyzed 1,839 social events, each with 17 different features, and tracked nearly 3,700 engagement scores. On top of that, we gathered more than 900 minutes of audio across 30 videos. This type of large-scale, detailed dataset allowed us to model group dynamics in ways that really push the boundaries of current social science research. What makes our work especially unique is that all of this data comes from interactions among older adults living with ADRD – something that hasn’t been explored at this scale before.”
The study demonstrates that virtual socialization platforms offer a promising way to combat isolation. It identifies evidence-based strategies that facilitators can use to boost engagement in group interactions, giving isolated individuals the opportunity for meaningful connection – an important step in reducing loneliness.
“One of the most striking findings was that the number of people actively speaking at any given time was the strongest predictor of engagement – it consistently stood out in our models, even when we accounted for other factors,” said Christine Williams, DNSc, APRN, co-author and professor emerita, FAU Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. “We also saw that interaction with the younger facilitator made a significant difference. In one case, a male participant’s engagement rose from less than 3% to nearly 30% – during the exact same game – when the female facilitator he had bonded with was present. Our findings highlight the importance of training facilitators to recognize and respond to ADRD-related language deficits thereby supporting those with ADRD to socialize in groups.”
The study is deeply rooted in the groundbreaking work of the late Emmanuelle Tognoli, Ph.D., a pioneering neuroscientist in complex systems theory in the FAU and a co-author. Her visionary contributions launched this research and has helped reshape how we understand social interactions in groups, emphasizing that when multiple individuals interact, the group’s overall behavior often forms complex, emergent patterns that cannot be fully explained by examining individual actions or simple one-on-one exchanges alone.
By applying these principles, the study offers fresh insights into how engagement unfolds in groups of older adults with ADRD, revealing how whole-group dynamics, rather than just individual behaviors, shape meaningful social connection.
“This approach opens new pathways for designing interventions that harness the power of complex social systems to improve cognitive and emotional health in vulnerable populations,” said Beetle.
Study co-authors are Joseph McKinley, first author and a graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. candidate in physics, FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Science; and Alice W. Brumley, DNP, APRN, interim director of the FAU Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center.
This work was funded by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health.
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