The ‘active reciprocity’ ecosystem: senior cohousing as a determinant of social support and cognitive vitality independent of socioeconomic status
María Luisa Delgado-Losada, Beatriz Sequeira-Villatoro, Celia Alcaide-Prieto, Jaime Bouhaben, Alice Delgado-Ramos · 2026
Read The ‘active reciprocity’ ecosystem: senior cohousing as a determinant of social support and cognitive vitality independent of socioeconomic status by María Luisa Delgado-Losada, Beatriz Sequeira-Villatoro, Celia Alcaide-Prieto, Jaime Bouhaben, Alice Delgado-Ramos (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13171812.txt.
Description
María Delgado-Losada and co-authors compare older adults who govern their shared housing with peers in ordinary houses, and find the social fabric, not the wallet, doing the work. Their 2026 study assesses 171 seniors, split between cohousing and single-family homes, across health, lifestyle, cognition, and well-being measures.
Cohousing residents were wealthier and carried more chronic diseases, yet lived healthier lives and scored better on verbal memory and fluency. They also reported stronger social support and a brighter view of aging. After adjusting for education, occupation, and income, the lifestyle edge faded, but the loneliness and support advantages survived adjustment. The authors name the mechanism an ecosystem of active reciprocity: neighbors who both give and receive help daily. The study cannot prove the housing caused the difference, since people choose cohousing. It does show which benefits money alone cannot explain.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | María Luisa Delgado-Losada, Beatriz Sequeira-Villatoro, Celia Alcaide-Prieto, Jaime Bouhaben, Alice Delgado-Ramos |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 93 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |