By Loneliness is hazardous to your health—and more psychologists and doctors are calling for a public-health campaign to fight it. “This has been underappreciated in the past,” says Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, “but cumulative data over hundreds of studies with millions of participants provides robust evidence of the importance of social connections for physical health and risk for premature mortality.” Social isolation, loneliness and living alone all have a significant effect on risk of early death—and the risk is equal to or greater than major health problems such as obesity, according to one of two meta-analyses of data from multiple studies that Dr. Holt-Lunstad presented in August at an American Psychological Association convention. The second, which looked at data from 148 studies, found that having greater social connections is associated with a 50% reduced risk of premature death. “Everybody has momentary pangs of loneliness, which are intended to motivate us to re-engage,” says Emma Adam, a professor of human development and social policy and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. “It’s really the kind of chronic loneliness where your body doesn’t have a chance to recover from those momentary experiences where loneliness really becomes a health problem.” About 44 million adults age 45 and older experience chronic loneliness, according to a 2010 survey by AARP, an advocacy group for older adults. In the survey, 35% of respondents said they were chronically lonely, up from 20% in a similar survey a decade ago. Psychologists say an increase in single-person households, higher divorce rates and too much focus on social media over in-person communication may be contributing to that increase, although social media also can help fight loneliness when used in certain ways. Loneliness is highest in people age 80 and older, according to a 2016 study by Maike Luhmann, a professor at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, and Louise Hawkley, a senior research scientist at the University of Chicago. Hearing loss, the deaths of spouses and friends, and immobility are among the issues that contribute to social isolation in the elderly. But the researchers also found that loneliness rises at other times, including around 35 and 55, for reasons that are unclear. It could be that people are so busy building careers and raising families they don’t have time to maintain high-quality relationships, Dr. Luhmann says. While loneliness has yet to receive the same level of attention as obesity and smoking, efforts to identify and help those at risk are beginning to take shape. Last year, AARP launched a campaign called Connect2Affect to spread awareness of the connection between loneliness and health and to identify solutions to help combat it. The Connect2Affect website offers a self-assessment tool for people of all ages to help determine how socially isolated they are. It also shares tips on how to become more connected. Senior-living facilities across the country have programs to help the elderly socialize more, and at least one company has sprung up that allows seniors to connect with ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft by dialing an 800 number. The Institute on Aging offers a 24-hour toll-free Friendship Line (1-800-971-0016) for adults 60 and older to call when they’re feeling lonely, depressed or suicidal. But some health professionals believe a public campaign to combat social isolation is in order—and it should start with doctors screening patients for chronic loneliness in much the same way they screen for other health conditions. “Early identification of patients in their practice and screening for loneliness or depression is a good first step,” says Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. Then it’s about “identifying programs to refer their patients to and a strong follow-up with patients and family members to ensure that engagement is occurring.” Some experts say programs are needed at the national, regional and local levels to teach people about loneliness and health, and to destigmatize the problem, so that people will seek help. That could mean discussing loneliness in health-education classes in schools, beefing up campus wellness offerings for college students who feel isolated and making loneliness part of the curriculum at medical schools, among other things, says Dr. Holt-Lunstad. Even the simple but powerful step of providing medical coverage for hearing aids could help reduce social isolation, she says. (While some private insurers cover hearing aids, traditional Medicare doesn’t.) “If you can’t hear, you aren’t part of the conversation,” she says. Some senior-living communities have found success with intergenerational activities that encourage young and old people to socialize. Providence Mount St. Vincent, a nursing home and assisted-living facility in Seattle, also houses a child-care program, which allows seniors to interact with children throughout the day. In Cleveland, a retirement community run by Judson Services Inc. launched an intergenerational housing program in which students from the Cleveland Institute of Music—and now other schools—are given free room and board within the community in exchange for musical performances. Cohousing communities, which are more common in Europe, are starting to pop up in the U.S., as well. Designed to promote a community-oriented lifestyle, homes are located close together around a shared space. Peter Lazar, who is developing Emerson Commons, a cohousing facility near Charlottesville, Va., says the goal is to “create a functioning neighborhood where people know their neighbors and interact.” Part of the challenge in fighting loneliness is that it “is still regarded by most people as a personal deficit or weakness,” says John Cacioppo, author of “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection.” Laura Alcock-Ferguson, executive director of the U.K.’s Campaign to End Loneliness, agrees, saying: “The more we talk about loneliness, the more we explore it through the media and culture and communities, the more we normalize it.” Ms. Holland is a writer in Chicago. Email her at reports@wsj.com. Appeared in the September 13, 2017, print edition as 'Government’s Role in Fighting Loneliness.'
Loneliness is hazardous to your health—and more psychologists and doctors are calling for a public-health campaign to fight it. “This has been underappreciated in the past,” says Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, “but cumulative data over hundreds of studies with millions of participants provides robust evidence of the importance of social connections for physical health and risk for premature mortality.”