過去老年學研究多聚焦於65歲以上、已退休或出現生理衰退的族群。但是要達到延長健康餘命與降低醫療負擔的目標，政策介入時點應適度向前移。本研究以55歲以上的社區居民為對象，以社會認知理論為基礎，探討環境、動機與心理限制對社會參與的交互影響。
研究發現，中高齡者的社會參與以親友聚會為主。其行為生成機制由環境支持構成基礎條件、生活目的感驅動內在力量，而心理限制則在特定情境下轉化為阻礙，這三種力量的交互作用，在性別與年齡上有明顯差別：男性的社會參與較依賴外在環境，女性則同時受內在動機與生活處境影響；跌倒恐懼對行為的衝擊隨老化階段展現出相反的動態：55至64歲受訪者的跌倒恐懼與社會參與呈正相關，65歲以上受訪者則轉為顯著負相關。此一隨年齡增長而轉變的機制差異打破了既有刻板印象，拓展了過去老年學對中高齡社會參與的理解。
依據上述結果，本研究借用預防醫學經典的「初級、次級、三級」三層防護架構，提出相應的策略。第一層著重提升「環境支持」以降低參與門檻；第二層透過強化「生活目的感」提升內在動機與持續性；第三層則針對高風險族群進行「精準介入」，化解跌倒恐懼對高齡長者的實質行為限制。這三層策略有助於政策資源的精準配置，符合世界衛生組織著重「功能發揮」的最新趨勢，能有效維持長者的社會連結、減少未來長照與醫療支出，達成個人與社會雙贏的局面。

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