Final answer:
Social engagement in the elderly is enhanced by engagement in meaningful activities, frequent contact with family and friends, participation in a community, and maintaining social connections, all of which lead to higher satisfaction with life.
Step-by-step explanation:
What contributes to social engagement, particularly for the elderly, includes staying active, maintaining social interactions, and finding meaningful roles and activities. To fill in the blanks, one could suggest that elders with health issues may report more satisfaction with life if they are able to engage in activities that they find meaningful. Nursing home residents are likely to report greater life satisfaction when they have frequent contact with family and friends. Elders who participate and stay involved in a community exhibit higher physical and emotional functioning. Lastly, those who maintain social connections feel more satisfied with their own lives according to the socioemotional selectivity theory and studies of sociological and psychological well-being in aging individuals.