Promoting social capital for healthy aging: Towards an integrative framework.

There is no theoretical framework to guide society to enhance social capital among older adults in the Decade of Healthy Aging. This paper aims to advance scholarship by providing a theoretical framework for promoting social capital for healthy aging using timebanking as a case illustration. We provide an integrated theoretical framework to enhance social capital for healthy aging by incorporating three core elements: (1) facilitating emotional meaningfulness via social participation for older adults, (2) incorporating older adults as co-producers in community development, and (3) nurturing an inclusive and equitable society. We further demonstrate the utility of the integrated theoretical framework for gerontologists by conceptualizing timebanking as an intervention for enhancing social capital in an aging society.