With much of the U.K. just emerging from its second coronavirus ‘lockdown’ into new tiers, the amount of social contact we are able to have is still limited. Among the worst affected are people living in the country’s care homes, 70% of whom have dementia. A recent report in The Lancet identified 12 risk factors for dementia and named social contact as an important defence against a decline in cognitive function as we get older.
The Lancet report states that engaging in frequent social contact helps to increase and maintain ‘cognitive reserve’ – a measure of a person’s resilience to decline in thinking skills. This is because…
