“The pandemic has shed new light on this struggle and reminded us of an unmistakable truth: we need each other.’’ Some hospitals have created friendly caller programs for lonely seniors. Some doctors have written prescriptions for loneliness.
Dianne Green sits on the porch of her home in Chicago on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Green, a retiree and cancer survivor, said she struggled with loneliness after several family members died in 2019 and early 2020. Then the pandemic hit. She credits a "friendly caller" from Rush University Medical Center with pulling her out of the depths of despair. Even before the pandemic, a survey found that 61 percent of American adults said they were lonely.
Some of the solutions they’re trying: Mental health support via texting for young people, “garden gate” visits by volunteers offering social distanced conversation outside older folks’ homes, and a campaign encouraging people to wear yellow socks to highlight loneliness in teens and young adults. Some doctors have gone as far as writing prescriptions for loneliness. There’s no recommended medicine, so they’ve gotten creative.
Stewart, of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said loneliness came up recently with a patient during a checkup at her Columbia, South Carolina office.