A Community-Based Participatory Critique of Social Isolation Intervention Research for Community-Dwelling Older Adults

This article examines the dialogue that occurred within the structure of a Research-to-Practice Consensus Workshop that critiqued academic research priorities regarding social isolation among community-dwelling older adults and identified practice-based suggestions for a social isolation research agenda. The investigators adapted the scientific consensus workshop model to include expert practitioners and researchers in a discussion of the current state and future directions of social isolation intervention research. The group's critique resulted in several key recommendations for future research including the need for a social isolation measure with specific capacity to identify isolated older adults during a community crisis. This study demonstrates that the Research-to-Practice Consensus Workshop model can be used successfully to identify priority areas for research that have implications for community practice, construct an evidence base more relevant for community application,S strengthen existing community-researcher partnerships, and build agency and practitioner capacity to take part in community-based participatory research.