CAPABLE Care + Connect adapts evidence-based home modification and occupational therapy to address functional decline and social isolation in homebound older adults. The intervention combines physical environmental optimization with structured social engagement, targeting two drivers of accelerated aging that typically operate in isolation from one another.
Key Points
- Home modifications plus occupational therapy reduce functional decline
- Structured social connection offsets isolation-driven health deterioration
- Care partner involvement strengthens intervention adherence and outcomes
Longevity Analysis
Social isolation and functional impairment represent overlapping mechanisms of accelerated aging in homebound populations. By integrating environmental design with structured human connection, this intervention addresses how the body's capacity to move, regenerate, and regulate stress response deteriorates when both physical capability and emotional resilience are compromised simultaneously. Homebound older adults often experience a cascade where reduced movement capacity leads to reduced social contact, which further impairs motivation for physical engagement—a cycle that compounds degenerative processes. The addition of a care partner component acknowledges that sustained behavior change requires accountability structures and relational support, not protocol alone.
Original published by SAGE Research on Aging, by Tiffany J. Riser, Wonkyung (Kelly) Jung, Samantha Curriero, Kennedy McDaniel, André Nogueira, Chanee D. Fabius, Mattan Schuchman, Bruce Leff, Katherine Ornstein, Sarah L. Szanton, Thomas K. M. Cudjoe115851School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA2Center for Healthcare Evaluation Research and Promotion, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA315712Boston College Connell School of Nursing, Boston, MA, USA4Department of Health Policy and Management, 25802Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA5Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Department of Medicine, 1500Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.