To overcome loneliness, elderly people need friendships. However, there is a difference in the way that older people maintain friendships compared to the way that younger people often do.
For younger people, friendship is often about volume. They can stave off loneliness by maintaining connections with a large number of people, even if those connections are mostly superficial.
That does not work for elderly people. Instead, older people tend to have fewer friendships and to shed superficial relationships. To overcome loneliness, the elderly need close friendships. One close friendship with regular contact is often enough to avoid the debilitating effects of loneliness.
