The main aim of this Research Stream is to describe older people’s patterns of SNSs use, exploring associations with well-being. We will perform secondary analysis of data from EUROSTAT survey “Community Statistics on information Society” (CSIS) in order to derive a profile of elderly SNS users. In addition, we will describe older people’s offline network characteristics, in terms of structure, support and quality and monitor the changes over time occurring in their network characteristics. Last, we will identify the factors that are associated to these changes and explore the impact of the changes in older people’s network characteristic (separately considering losses and additions) on physical health, cognitive functions, and well-being and from “Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe” (SHARE). Specifically, the objective of this research stream are to

• derive a profile of older adults’ SNS use
• find associations between SNS use and well-being
• describe older adults’ offline network characteristics
• explore the impact of changes in older adults’ network characteristics on cognitive functions, physical health, and well-being  

Research Stream Leader: Prof. Emanuela Sala

Team Members: Dr. Alessandra Gaia, Dr. Giulia Melis, Dr. Emma Garavaglia, Dr. Pryanka Boerio, Dr. Gabriele Cerati, Mr. Tosco Giannessi, Prof. Marco Gui, Miss. Alice Di Leva, Mr. Elvis Napolitano, Miss. Miriam Serini

Consult the profiles of team members here