Social isolation and loneliness and social connection are recognized social determinants of health and modifiable risk factors for dementia, yet network strategies to address them remain scarce. To evaluate a structural network intervention designed to expand and redistribute social care through an intersectoral partnership. Specifically, we asked: (1) Can arts/culture institutions and community-based/service organizations (CBOs) be engaged in a cross-sector social care network? (2) Can these organizations be empowered to co-design and implement connectivity activities? (3) Can hosting and co-coordination of activities strengthen and sustain the network? Using a participatory approach nested in a mixed-methods ethnography and informed by narrative phenomenology, we administered Partner Network Surveys to engage community-based organizations (CBO) and arts/culture institutions (A/C), envision and co-design activities/events that mattered to them. Network metrics (degree centrality, reciprocity, density) were analyzed using t-tests, Poisson regression, and Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models (SAOM). Engagement increased significantly: individuals reported more organizational ties and out-degree centrality rose for A/C and CBOs. Empowerment was evident in in-degree gains for A/C and CBOs. Sustainability was supported by increased reciprocity and stable density, indicating a decentralized structure. SAOM confirmed that A/C and CBOs sectors became more central while transitivity increased. Three years post-funding, jointly coordinated activities continued across sectors. Leveraging social connection at a structural level, by combining network theory with narrative phenomenology, enabled engagement, empowerment, and sustainability of a decentralized social care network. This model offers a scalable, non-medical approach to addressing social determinants of health. • We created an intersectoral structural network intervention to expand a social care network • A participatory approach, combined with narrative and phenomenological resources, engaged and empowered network partners • Envisioning through prospective network questions fostered sustainability • Our study proposes the mattering of engagement as a mechanism for sustainability
Park et al. (Wed,) studied this question.