What Causes Adult Loneliness In Our Communities And How To Address It?

The U.S. Surgeon General called “social connection” a human need as important as food, water and shelter. Loneliness is a way that social connection is unmet because of poor quality in relationships. What does it mean, then, when there is a loneliness epidemic and what kind of poor quality are we talking about? This talk goes through fundamental questions, to really grasp the meaning of social connection and loneliness as a social species. It is based on recent research completed by Kyla Bauer for their Ph.D. program. The first half of the talk will give an overview of the research. The last half of the talk will be an activity. Attendees can be the first to test out tools for designing a loneliness intervention in a community that you care about.