Isolation / Loneliness

English writer Virginia Woolf once wrote, “Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.” In fact, Ms. Woolf was ahead of her time in understanding the essential importance of friendships in your life. Even more than spouses and relatives, friends are the essential relationships for our…

Each June, around the country, there is the recognition and celebration of Pride Month, to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York City and to acknowledge the hard-won (and ongoing) battles of the LGBTQ+ community to achieve equality. It’s more than just a month to display rainbow pennants and…

While most of us want to age in place in the community, rather than live out our final years in a facility, that arrangement can sometimes require significant support and services in the home. Especially if the person at home has physical or cognitive disabilities, significant daily help may be…

It’s no surprise that older individuals often feel lonely, as close family and friends become distant or have passed away, and as illness and disability make it harder to connect and gather. We’ve covered this topic on many previous occasions but it’s still jarring to read new research that confirms…

It’s likely no surprise that loneliness continues to be a significant public health concern in the United States. As we reported last year when Surgeon General Vivek Murthy raised alarms about the public health crisis of loneliness in our country, loneliness is not only a subjective individual feeling of disappointment…

It’s no secret that among older adults, loneliness and dementia are ongoing and growing problems. Add to that the rise in older adults living alone and you have the makings of a real public health crisis as our population continues to get older. While there are all sorts of scientific…