Dec 13, 2021
As we’re gathering once again with family and friends during the holidays, most of us are eager and excited to resume our annual social festivities. Of course. But for many people, especially isolated older adults, this is a very lonely season. And it’s not just these times. Research from the University of California, San Francisco found that 43 percent of adults over 65 say they feel lonely, which puts them at a higher risk for poor health. The COVID-19 pandemic has made social isolation worse, but it didn’t create it; this problem has been growing for years, spreading across nations, as well as across younger adults. In today’s episode, we’ll talk with three distinguished experts about loneliness and social isolation, and what approaches we can we explore to deal with these issues. Eddie Garcia is Executive Director of the Foundation for Social Connection, a non-profit organization that aims to foster evidence-based solutions addressing social isolation and loneliness. Marcia Slater Johnston is a journalist and Founder of Make Room @ The Table, an affinity group whose mission is to develop strategies to alleviate social isolation and loneliness among older people. And Dr. Carla Perissinotto, an Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, at the University of California, San Francisco Carla, has gained national and international recognition for her research on the effects of loneliness on the health of older adults. These experts will cover a broad, provocative range of issues: Who’s most at risk for loneliness? How do you define it, as opposed to social isolation, or simply being alone? What’s driving loneliness in the U.S.? (Compared to say, the United Kingdom, which has appointed a Minister of Loneliness.) And how are experts across multiple fields and organizations partnering to analyze these questions and propose solutions? You’ll discover how you can make a difference for yourself and for others to curb loneliness and thrive, whether it’s during the holidays or other times of loneliness and longing.