Leveraging human-centered design to advance social connection for older adults living in subsidized housing

Social isolation is a complex problem that harms mental and physical well-being. Older adults living in subsidized housing communities are at high risk for social isolation despite these being congregate settings. Few strategies exist to address this herculean challenge. Nevertheless, human-centered design (HCD) has the potential to yield innovative solutions amid complexity. This collaborative process relies upon building empathy for and working iteratively with end users to generate ideas to support positive change. Leveraging HCD, we sought to capture the perspectives and insights of older adults living in two subsidized housing communities to deepen our understanding of the challenge for the purpose of developing a solution. From these engagements, we identified six themes that influence social connection among older adults living in subsidized housing: feelings of exclusion, lack of community connections, burdensome transition to communal living, recent changes in building policies, concerns about physical safety, and concerns about building maintenance. These themes informed the creation of intervention ideas such as implementing effective engagement strategies for service coordinators and promoting resident leadership. This study demonstrates the use of a novel approach to generate ideas to promote social connection by working in partnership with key partners and older adults living in subsidized housing.