engAGED Partnering on a New Grant to Support Social Connection
Social isolation increases the risk of early mortality as well as an array of physical and cognitive impairments, making the promotion of social connection a crucial component of age-friendly care. In April 2025, to address this concern and intersection, USAging was awarded a two-year grant—the Strengthening Social Connection in Communities Project—from the John A. Hartford Foundation, aimed at improving the health of older adults and their caregivers by replicating evidence-based social connection programs within communities. Jointly operated by USAging's Aging and Disability Business Institute and engAGED: The National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults, the initiative will create synergy between the social engagement and Age-Friendly Ecosystem initiatives and test innovations in this space through the awarding of pilot grants to communities.
Background on the Investment in Social Connection Programming
engAGED has been a long-time advocate for supporting the social engagement of older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers. Data from the 2024 AAA National survey shows that Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are also invested in this space with nearly all reporting AAAs providing specific efforts to socially engage clients. It was additionally found that 15 percent of AAAs contract with health care organizations to provide these services. To advance this work further and scale social connection programs nationally, this project is focused on growing the evidence base for these programs as well as fostering the replication of existing social connection programs.
Information on the Strengthening Social Connection in Communities Project
This project will support collecting and reviewing successful evidence-based and evidence-informed social connection programs as well as awarding ten community seed grants to foster social connection and develop strategies for broader replication of effective programs that fit into the age-friendly ecosystem. In addition to the funding from the John A. Hartford Foundation, the RRF Foundation for Aging and the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York awarded two new grants to USAging to support the Strengthening Social Connection in Communities Project. This additional support will assist grantees to further evaluate their social connection programs.
How to Engage with this Opportunity
This fall USAging will be releasing an RFP to support evidence-based social connection seed grants of up to $35,000 a year. engAGED and the Aging and Disability Institute will select 10 organizations for a seed grant program, inclusive of underserved communities.
There will be two possible tracks for grantees to pursue (grantees will select one to apply for):
planning, establishing or expanding a sustainable social connection program or
developing/expanding cross-sector partnerships focused on social connection, such as health care partner/payer partnerships.
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