As the coronavirus attacks society on a molecular level, it has also exacerbated another epidemic that may remain somewhat hidden: loneliness.
More than 20 years ago, political scientist Robert Putnam warned in “Bowling Alone” that Americans were increasingly withdrawing from each other, losing civilian life and “social capital.”
In early 2020, before the pandemic hit, the Massachusetts Task Force to End Loneliness and Build Community — a coalition of senior center directors, selectmen city councils, clergy and nonprofit groups across the state — was formed to try to stem that rising tide of divorce.
Now 17 months after many Americans had shrunk their world to computer screens and households, next week the task force will share some of its solutions with the Commit to Connect campaign, a federal public-private partnership based in Washington from the Department of Health and Human Rights. services.
“Covid exposed the whole conversation about social isolation,” said Caitlin Coyle, co-chair of the group and a research associate at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, who studies aging. “People from all walks of life got a taste of what it’s like to be isolated.”
Social isolation at any age increases the risk of heart disease by 29 percent and stroke by 32 percent, and isolated adults ages 50 and older are about 50 percent more likely to develop dementia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Social isolation in the US increased even as the Covid crisis began to ease in the spring, new research shows.
“It’s very coincidental that we came together when it was necessary,” said Ms. Coyle of her group. “We’re trying to bridge the gap between what we know about the problem and what we can do on the ground to bring about change.”
Although the group started with a focus on better connecting older adults with their communities, she said the ideas apply to all age groups. Some of the practices involve simple actions, such as: send a letter or postcard to a relative or friend, or volunteer for an hour a week to help neighbors. These form the core of the #ReachOutMa taskforce’s awareness campaign.
“We want our work to be about building better communities,” said Ms. Coyle. “For me, it’s about building communities that are socially connected. Age doesn’t matter.”
Many Americans were isolated before the pandemic and may not be able to “strike back” to connect with a wide social network, Ms Coyle said, even as the pandemic subsides. Her task force acts as an information center for local programs: they want to know why it works and for whom it works.
In Chelsea, a city of 35,000 across the Mystic River from Boston, representatives from social services, police and health organizations meet weekly to share information about residents who may need help, then quickly dispatch a team to provide support. Another program, the Neighbors Brigade, sends a network of volunteers to help residents in crisis prepare meals, rides and chores.
Ms. Coyle calls those involved in such programs the “do-it-yourself group” and the task force held face-to-face meetings in four regions of the state where hundreds of ideas — such as prescription submissions by school bus drivers or senior shuttle drivers — were shared so they can build on. .
“It takes a village,” she said. “We have strayed so far from that. You have to make that effort.”
