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ABSTRACT
Social relationships and engagement are critically important to well-being in later life and have been found to be strongly correlated with isolation and loneliness. Addressing loneliness has emerged in recent years as a grand challenge for our health and social care systems. In this article, the author introduces, describes, and provides a preliminary evaluation of the “virtual care farm” – an innovative union of high-technology online communities and low-technology care farms. Preliminary evaluation suggests that connecting older adults with nature and older adults with each other have the potential to facilitate social engagement, foster relationships, and address loneliness and isolation.