In the News: New York Times

Here is an excerpt:

“In early 2020, before the pandemic hit, the Massachusetts Task Force to End Loneliness and Build Community — a coalition of senior center directors, town boards of selectmen, clergy, and nonprofit groups in the state — was created to try to turn back that rising tide of separation.

“Now 17 months after many Americans had their worlds shrunk to computer screens and households, the task force next week will share some of its solutions with the Commit to Connect campaign, a federal public-private partnership, based in Washington out of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Covid brought to light the whole conversation of social isolation,” said Caitlin Coyle, a co-chair of the group and a research fellow at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, who studies aging. “People from all walks of life had 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 aged 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 U.S. rose even as the Covid crisis began to subside in the spring, new research shows.”

Read the full article here.