Finally, enhanced relationship/health linkages can be viewed as preventive medicine. While social ties may serve to improve health outcomes for those who develop serious health conditions, social ties may help prevent these conditions from developing in the first place. Policies that promote and protect social ties should have both short-term and long-term payoffs. If social ties foster psychological well-being and better health habits throughout the life course, then social ties can add to cumulative advantage in health over time—a worthwhile goal for an aging population. Better health means reduced health care costs as well as better quality of life for Americans, regardless of their age.
