Later-Life Friendship in Advance Care Planning: Variation by Marital Status and Gender

Zheng Lian, Lucie Kalousová, Department of Sociology, Vanderbilt University, United States, Departments of Medicine, and Society, Vanderbilt University, United States

Research on Aging: An International Bimonthly Journal

Published online on January 08, 2026

Abstract

Research on Aging, Ahead of Print.
Friendship is an understudied social context in research on advance care planning (ACP). Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (2018-2020), we examine the associations between the quality and quantity of friendships and older adults’ engagement ...