Journal of epidemiology and community health
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Jan 2020
Community engagement and dementia risk: time-to-event analyses from a national cohort study.
There is increasing interest in the potential health benefits of referring older adults to engage in community leisure activities ('social prescribing') to help promote healthy cognitive ageing. However, it remains unclear whether beneficial effects of community engagement are independent of the well-known protective effects of broader structural, functional and subjective social factors. ⋯ It is not just social factors that are associated with reduced risk of dementia onset, but community engagement may also be protective, particularly when relating to cultural activities. These findings are of relevance when considering the current interest in social prescribing to support healthy ageing.