- Loneliness, isolation, social disconnect.

A new report by the US Surgeon General declares loneliness an American epidemic, affecting about half of all adults.

Tonight, we'll examine the factors that contribute to isolation and what we can do to avoid it.

a special Community Conversation: The Loneliness Epidemic.

- Capital Blue Cross is a proud supporter of health care programming on PBS39, Medicare coverage backed by over 80 years of health care expertise, serving 21 counties in central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley.

Capital Blue Cross: Going the extra mile.

- Now here's your host, Brittany Sweeney.

- Good evening and welcome.

The surgeon general's report this month spells out a public health crisis.

It's a challenge that the nation's top doctor says requires awareness and action at the national and local levels.

Tonight, we will dig into this important topic.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

We are coming to you from the Univest Public Media Center in Bethlehem.

The surgeon general's advisory found loneliness affects people of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Young and old, rich and poor suffer from loneliness and isolation.

And it's not just mental health.

According to Dr Vivek Murthy, lacking social connection increases the risk of premature death by nearly 30%.

It's like smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Here he is, declaring this a public health epidemic.

- Research shows that loneliness and isolation are associated with a greater risk of heart disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death.

In fact, lacking connection can increase the risk of premature death to levels comparable to smoking daily.

Loneliness and social isolation are also far more common than we might realize.

About one in two American adults report experiencing loneliness.

Everyone can be impacted, across all ages, socioeconomic conditions and geographies.

This widespread disconnection presents profound threats to our health and well-being.

Social connection is as fundamental to our mental and physical health as food, water and sleep.

And it affects our performance and productivity at work, school and in our communities.

Now is the time to invest in building social connection.

- The surgeon general is calling on schools, workplaces and community groups to make changes to boost the country's connectedness.

Joining us tonight are psychologists, therapists and medical professionals to help us take a closer look at this epidemic right here in the Valley.

We'll examine some of the causes, visit those affected by loneliness, find out what steps are being taken to combat it and explore possible solutions.

Senior citizens often come to mind when we think about being lonely or isolated.

As we get older, children may move away and spouses may pass away, leaving some people with a life they don't recognize.

Recently, I paid a visit to Cedar View Senior Center in Allentown to discuss that issue.

On this particular day, the seniors had a chance to get some lunch, socialize and enjoy a special performance from an Elvis entertainer.

- My husband died and I had to move right into living by myself.

I mean, I went from mom and dad to my husband and then nobody.

So I was living by myself.

- You want a kiss?

Is that what you're saying?

OK. - Families don't tend to stay in the same area anymore.

Kids, you know, get married and move away, far away from home, and so they end up not being around to take care of their parents when they get older and it does get lonely.

- I just recently lost my husband, so that didn't help.

But a lot of my friends now are widows and you become isolated because you don't have that 24/7 connection with somebody here with you all the time.

And now you lose your spouse, sell your home, move into a community like this, which is totally foreign to most everybody.

And it's an adjustment.

- We lose activity, we're not as active as we used to be.

And the ones that are, you can't keep up with them.

You have things on your mind.

You just almost go into a depression and it's just easier to be alone.

- I do see a little bit of the loneliness in the population, particularly with the people who don't come out of their apartments a lot, which is why we have the centers, to give them the opportunity to come out and be with other people.

♪ Little sister, don't you ♪ ♪ Little sister, don't you... ♪ - The senior centers are open to the public, they're community based.

We serve luncheon centers and offer a number of different activities.

- I love music and I love all different kinds, so I've really enjoyed that because it's... You know, it's something we can all participate in and get to know each other better.

- They really bond, especially with the Elvis stuff.

That's that era.

- I am purposely making a point of coming to the different events and trying to get involved in things so that I don't feel so lonesome.

- Come down and have a cup of coffee and sit and talk or have lunch with whoever is here and enjoy that time.

It gets you out of that depressed mood.

- You've got to put yourself out there to make new friends in the community.

But you have to put yourself out.

- The purpose of the senior centers is actually to get seniors to come out and be with other seniors, enjoy various activities, entertainment, have lunch together.

- Living here in this community has been a blessing.

It's a wonderful place.

The staff is absolutely wonderful.

- Really grateful to be somewhere where I can have friends around me and be alone if I want to and not if I don't.

- It's important, I think, for them to know that, people in the community, to know that these centers are open to the community.

Anybody who is 60 and over can come in and join in the fun.

- Lehigh County has 12 senior centers and we'll speak a little later about all that they have to offer.

But before we get to that, the surgeon general's report stresses that loneliness influences mental and physical health outcomes.

I had the opportunity to speak with Rochelle Frounfelker.

She's a social epidemiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Community and Population Health at Lehigh University.

She shared her perspective on the report's findings.

Rochelle, thank you so much for taking some time for us to talk about this really important topic.

- Absolutely.

- First, let's talk about your role.

You're a social epidemiologist.

So what does that mean?

What do you do?

- Yeah, I look at social and environmental determinants of people's health outcomes.

So I might include things like socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, but it also includes these components such as social networks and social supports, which have really been found to be linked to a lot of different health outcomes among individuals.

- So the Surgeon General just put out this advisory surrounding loneliness and lack of connectivity among people across the country.

How do we measure something like loneliness?

- Yeah, I think you can measure things like social support and loneliness objectively and subjectively.

Objectively would be like, literally, how many people are you connected to in your family, in your social circle, in the community?

But then you could have a connection with a lot of people, but what is the quality of those connections, right?

Do you feel that you have someone to go to if you need some emotional support, if you need concrete support, like, I need someone to drive me to the grocery store?

And so what is the characteristics of those relationships?

Are they positive?

Are they nurturing?

Are they supportive?

Or are they also really stressful that create a strain on your psychological well-being?

So I think there's sort of two different ways at least that you could measure these things within an individual.

- Sure.

Over the past decade, we've seen the suicide rate steadily climb.

Does this play into this loneliness epidemic?

And if so, how?

- Absolutely.

I think social isolation is probably the strongest predictor of suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and then, of course, completed suicides.

If you're looking at people feeling completely disengaged from the world around them, they don't feel that they belong, they don't have emotional supports to go to, people to talk to about what they're dealing with.

So I think this is absolutely critical, if you look at this topic of suicide, to be thinking about loneliness overall.

- Sure.

And the advisory mentioned age groups such as the older population when it comes to treating and looking at this epidemic of loneliness.

So how does age play into all of this?

- Yeah, so in my work, I focus really specifically on mental health outcomes throughout the lifespan.

So I think among an older age group, older population, maybe that has received a bit more attention over time.

And we think about sort of elderly people being maybe isolated in their homes if they have mobility issues, maybe if they're not driving as much.

Do they have younger family members that have moved away that they don't have as much connection to?

And then we can also look at, with that age group, what access do they have to technologies and their ability to use different technologies that can connect us, even if we aren't living so close to one another?

But on the other side, I think there's increasing concern among youth, young adults where traditionally, you know, we look at that age group as individuals, very social, having a lot of friends, but increasingly concerns over, again, sort of not feeling a sense of belonging within their community, feeling isolated, especially looking at the really big transitions that you go through in that time in your life.

- Sure.

You look at something like a college campus, you think there's this huge group of people all the same age, you'd think they'd be connected, but that's not always the case.

So how do campuses like Lehigh University make sure that they are involving their students and making sure that they're connecting with the rest of the student body?

- Yeah, I think that this conversation among colleges, universities, on the mental well-being, health and well-being of their students, has really been elevated in the past number of years.

And I think what's fantastic is here at Lehigh University, there's a lot of attention being put on this issue and a lot of initiatives that have started in order to develop stronger support systems for students.

For example, our student affairs has initiatives where they have on weekends get-togethers, where any student can come, as a place for people to come together, meet other people, do something social.

There's also a peer support program in place for, again, if you want more one on one, to connect with someone and to discuss what's going on in your life, too.

- Sure.

So it sounds like there's some solutions being talked about here on campus.

What are some of the bigger solutions that we can implement throughout our society?

- Yeah, and I look at sort of potential solutions and interventions that have to take place on multiple levels.

One would be among with individuals.

How can we help them reach out and develop more supports and connections in their life?

Maybe getting involved with things with their community, civic engagement, right, things like that.

But then for the overall community, do we have forums that people can get together and share and celebrate different events, different holidays, festivals and things like that, so individuals can feel that they belong to a larger community of which they are part.

And ultimately, then, how as a society are we helping people feel connected?

How can we develop and build trust among individuals, even strangers that you meet when you go to the store, right, and feel that you are supported and have a larger group of people around you that can help you if you need assistance.

- Sure.

Rochelle, do you think that this is something that we can improve upon over the next few years, especially now that the surgeon general has said this is something we need to pay attention to?

- Yeah, I think it's incredibly exciting that the surgeon general came out with this report.

One of the things I love about it, too, is there are recommendations for all sort of aspects and dimensions in society and, you know, academics, philanthropy, communities and different action steps that we can take to try to address this issue.

- Wonderful.

Rochelle Frounfelker, thank you so much for your input today.

- Thank you.

- Age, lack of family connections and geography are all factors that can play into feeling lonely and isolated.

The Covid-19 pandemic only compounded those issues, but there's another component that has a major effect, social media.

Through social media, some might say they're more connected than ever, but my next guest, she has a different take.

She's a psychologist and associate director of clinical training at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2018, she conducted a study that for the first time showed a link between time spent on social media platforms and people's well-being.

Joining us remotely is Melissa Hunt.

Dr Hunt, thank you so much for joining us.

- My pleasure.

Glad to be here.

- It's great to have you.

So your study found a link between time spent on social media and well-being.

That started... And you went down that path.

What got you started there?

- Well, to be honest, it was my undergraduates, the research assistants in my lab who were really interested in this issue because it was such a pervasive part of their life.

And we started looking at the existing literature, all of which said that there was clearly a correlation between social media use and well-being, but none of the studies had really been able to establish causality.

And so we said, "Well, this can't be that hard to do," so we conducted a somewhat ambitious study in which we actually did several things that hadn't been done previously.

First, we randomly assigned people to different conditions, either using social media as usual or limiting their time to 30 minutes per day, sort of total across the three major platforms at the time, which were Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

TikTok didn't even exist back then.

And we also got objective measures of people's social media use, which had never been done before.

Prior to that, it was all retrospective self report.

Now, if you asked yourself right now, "How much time did I spend on average on social media "last week?

", the answer would be probably wildly inaccurate.

We need to get objective data on that.

And what we found very, very clearly was that limiting your time on social media led directly to reductions in self-reported depression and anxiety.

And it was the first time that that causal connection had really been demonstrated, so it was pretty exciting.

- Melissa, how do you demonstrate cause and effect?

- So you do that in an experimental design where you randomly assign half of your subjects to one group and the other half of the subjects to the other group.

And you have baseline measures that tell you where people are at at the beginning of the study, and then you watch people over time.

Our study lasted for four weeks.

So it was one week initially of just self-monitoring and then three weeks of the actual study intervention.

And then you assess for things like depression and loneliness again at the end of the study.

And if there are any substantial differences between the two groups at the end of the study, you know it has to have been due to the intervention because you randomly assigned those people and they were the same at baseline, and then at the end of the study, they were different.

- OK. Now, did this study just look at younger folks or was this all age groups across the board?

- This was young adults.

This was actually college students at the University of Pennsylvania.

Now, I will say that this study got a lot of attention at the time, continues to get attention.

I was very pleased when the surgeon general's office reached out to me and wanted to discuss these findings with me.

I want to point out we have replicated this finding numerous times since then, and I have a number of other papers that are either published or under review at the moment.

And what I can say with some confidence is that we replicate this finding over and over again and that the best way to use social media is to follow friends.

What do I mean by that?

I mean people you actually know in real life and like and respect and feel comfortable with, for about one hour a day or less.

Any more than that, and following strangers, is not so great for your mental health or your well-being.

- Sure.

And you talk about the sense of FOMO, or "fear of missing out".

How does that play into all of this?

- So one of the things that's important to keep in mind is that human beings have always compared themselves to each other.

We are social animals.

Our position in our social group is very important to us, as rightly so, and we're always kind of judging ourselves with respect to the people around us.

That's been true for as long as there have been humans.

That's probably true for as long as there have been primates.

But the ubiquity of social media, the fact that it's in our hands 24/7, especially for young people...

They are often on these platforms three, four, five hours a day.

They're on these platforms when they should be doing other things, like their homework or sleeping or actually talking to their friends over lunch, face to face.

And the fact that so much of what's on social media is really unrealistic, it's a highlights reel, right?

And there are more and more filters that people can use to make themselves look particularly attractive or beautiful or different or thinner than they actually are.

And when you're bombarded with these images day after day after day, for hours at a time, it's very easy to conclude that you don't measure up, that you don't belong, that you are not good enough, that other people have these spectacular, glamorous, connected, wonderful, exciting lives, and, you know, you went to the library and worked and then met a friend for coffee.

Like, it somehow doesn't measure up.

So that's part of the problem, is that social media is presenting this very false view of other people's lives that looks much more glossy and perfect than anyone's life actually is.

- Now, this study was conducted about five years ago.

Has anything changed, gotten better or worse?

I mean, most of us haven't put that social media down.

So what are your findings?

Are you still following this?

- I am still finding this.

We actually just completed a study this year, which we're busy writing the paper on, looking specifically at body image and Instagram.

My fabulous students actually created a media literacy intervention, to help people understand things like Photoshop and how unrealistic so many of those images are.

And what we found in this particular case was that getting off Instagram completely led to the most improvement in things like depression and body image dissatisfaction.

But our media literacy intervention actually also worked.

It definitely reduced both depression and body dissatisfaction.

So the main message that I take now with parents, especially when I get asked, "Well, what should I do about "letting my kid use social media?

", is, social media is with us to stay.

It's not going anywhere.

All the kids are on it.

You can't not let your kid be on social media because then they really will be missing out on some important ways of connecting.

What we need to do is take a harm reduction approach, which is very similar to the approach that we really should be using with things like alcohol and marijuana.

Let's understand that kids are going to try these things, young adults are going to try these things, and what we need to do is teach them how to use it responsibly so that it contributes to well-being rather than diminishing well-being.

- Melissa, do you think that starts with us as adults setting that example?

Because, listen, I know I'm as guilty as the next adult when it comes to picking up my phone and checking social media.

It's not just the kids who do that.

- Yes, it absolutely starts with adults.

We have to be not only good role models to our kids, we also have to be willing to set meaningful limits.

So smartphones do not belong in classrooms at all, period.

They should never be allowed, kids should never be allowed to use cell phones in their classrooms.

Cell phones don't belong in bedrooms after 10:00 at night.

The cell phone should be plugged into the kitchen and left there.

And if your kid tells you, "But I use my phone as my alarm clock," go to CVS and buy them a $10 digital alarm clock.

We cannot expect young adults or adolescents, much less tweenagers and kids who are in middle school, to be able to set limits themselves.

These devices and the programs that run on them are designed to be as addictive as possible because that is how those companies make money.

And it's sort of like putting a kid down at a table full of donuts and cookies and brownies, and then I'm asking them to eat the one piece of steamed broccoli that's off on the side.

That's not going to work.

Nobody has that kind of self-control.

So it is up to the adults in young people's lives to help them set limits and learn how to use these devices responsibly.

- Now, Melissa, the surgeon general says loneliness hits young people especially hard.

We heard about the older folks a little bit earlier in the program, but it is hitting younger folks hard, like you just said.

Now, people ages 15 to 24, they reported a 70% drop in time spent with friends in the last two decades.

Is that because of social media?

Is that the biggest factor?

What are we thinking here?

- It is absolutely the biggest factor.

The ginormous uptick in loneliness in our adolescents and very young adults exactly corresponds to the onset of social media in their lives.

Now, Covid, of course, was a sort of bizarre aberration in everybody's life.

And I think it is the case that people relied on social media more when everyone was stuck quarantining in their own homes.

So there was a little bit of a blip in which social media was actually allowing for connectivity that wouldn't be happening otherwise.

But now that the world has opened up again, not that Covid is gone, but it's certainly less of an emergency now than it was, the problem is that social media platforms actually start to take the place of real-world interaction.

So you were speaking with your prior guest about colleges, right?

It used to be that when you landed in college, you immediately made friends with all the people in your dorm and the people who are in your classes.

Now, these young people are staying connected too much on their phones to people that they knew in high school.

Now, we might say, "Well, isn't that good?

"That's still fostering a relationship."

But what it's actually doing is interfering with forming new social networks in college.

So there's absolutely no question that social media is the single biggest reason for the uptick in loneliness in adolescents and young adults.

- Dr Hunt, if you could just reiterate, how much is too much?

For those at home picking up the phone, looking at social media, how much is too much?

- Well, what the evidence says is that anything more than two hours is almost certainly going to be harmful.

I think the sweet spot is about an hour a day, 30 to 60 minutes a day.

That's going to be kind of the sweet spot.

And, really, do you want to spend more time on that, just sucked into your phone?

Doesn't seem like a very good use of your time.

- I know.

But you make a good point there, "sucked in".

You get sucked in, and then you don't realize how much time has passed.

But, Melissa, you make some wonderful points here.

We want you to hang tight.

We're going to check back in with you in just a little bit.

Thanks for that information.

And we continue this Community Conversation: The Loneliness Epidemic on PBS39 and presented by LehighValleyNews.com.

It's no secret that senior citizens are among the highest risk groups for loneliness.

The loss of a life partner, separation from friends and family or lack of access to transportation, they can all lead to isolation and even depression.

Our next guests work with seniors every single day.

Heather Nicolella is an aging care management supervisor with the Lehigh County Office of Aging and Adult Services.

And Wendy Scott is an elder life educator with the Fleming Memory Center, an outpatient facility in Allentown operated by the Lehigh Valley Physicians Group.

Thank you both so much for being here.

Heather, let's start with you.

So what we heard from seniors in our story earlier, not surprising, pretty common, right?

- Oh, a lot of the instances on why they are lonely at this time, absolutely, positively.

I would like to also add to what they've expressed.

It's like just health issues.

You know, that's what's...

Pain and different chronic health issues that keep them from getting out and being social in social environments.

- Absolutely, and we saw some folks at a senior center in Lehigh County a little bit earlier.

What role do they play in socializing and connecting our older population?

- At the senior centers, we really try to gather people together, older adults together, for lunch.

You know, a lot of the older adults in their homes, they're not eating with others anymore, so it gives them an opportunity just to share socially at lunch and then participate in all kinds of different activities, you know?

- And, Wendy, you're an elder life educator.

And so what do you tell the families of folks who are coming to see you?

What do you talk to them about in terms of loneliness?

- Well, in my aspect, I actually work with the caregivers caring for individuals who have a diagnosis of dementia.

So we found, especially during the pandemic, that they were actually suffering from a lot of loneliness, on top of their loved ones suffering as well.

So we have been able to, through that, connect with them through offering support groups and caregiver programs via Zoom, which has been very well for them.

And they actually make connections now through Zoom with other caregivers, so that has been a huge impact on helping with diminishing the loneliness for them.

- Sure.

How do you measure something like that?

How do you get a good read on whether someone's feeling lonely and depressed?

- When they come into our office and have that initial assessment, we meet with the caregivers prior and we have a conversation with them prior, and you can gauge if they're struggling.

And a lot of the caregivers will just honestly say that they're struggling.

In regards to the person with dementia, a lot of times, the struggle is the caregivers can't get that person involved.

So it's, "How can we get them more engaged?"

Because it's very important for all people to be social, especially with dementia.

So we provide...

There are so many resources in the Lehigh Valley, so we help connect those caregivers and those seniors with those resources.

- Sure.

And, Heather, we talk about loneliness.

We have an entire advisory here from the surgeon general talking about loneliness.

But how do we define that when we're looking at it in our certain populations, especially our older folks?

How do we define what loneliness is?

What does that look like?

- I think the older adults define it for us, you know?

I mean, they say what they need, as far as resources within the community.

And you see the sadness.

- And what are some of the programs put into place?

We saw the senior centers.

In addition to that, what are some of the programs put into place for folks to keep them connected, to kind of enhance that organic connection, not social media, not following someone on Facebook, but real-life, face to face connections?

How do you encourage that?

- I think at the aging offices, we have additional programs that really connect people, especially who are homebound, with others.

For instance, you know, through our options program, we pay for Meals on Wheels, and then a volunteer from Meals on Wheels comes in daily and checks in on.

So if somebody is not able to get out and they can participate in the lunch program with Meals on Wheels, that's one way.

We have health and wellness programs that we try and offer at the senior centers or virtually that really connect others within the community.

So those are two examples within just the aging office.

- Sure.

And, Wendy, do you see a lot of people coming in lonely, when it comes to your role and your position?

Is this something that people are coming in with right off the bat or does it develop over time?

- Some people do come in right off the bat with loneliness.

Absolutely, yes.

And also too, again, going back to the caregivers, especially during the pandemic, a lot of them were lonely because they couldn't do anything.

So how can we support them caring for someone?

So, yeah, it does happen.

- Sure.

And what tools do you give those caregivers?

What are some of the things that you set into place for them?

- We have a great program where, again, we offer virtual support groups and caregiver programs.

And the caregiver is... We have memory support team meetings, if they want to set that up with us, and we work with them through the process of dementia.

And so we're there for them from step one until the end.

But they know that we have a huge support system for them.

- Absolutely.

And if someone's coming in and they want to get some resources for their family member through Lehigh Valley Health Network, how can they do so?

- They can contact the Fleming Memory Center and we can definitely help them and guide them into that right direction.

- Sure.

And, Heather, I'll ask you the same thing.

If someone's coming to your agency, what resources are there to get them started, to get them their foot in the door to getting more resources and better resources and better connected?

- Yeah, I mean, just a call to our office.

A care manager will come out, talk to them, do an assessment and see how we could connect them to different resources or the resources within our office.

- And of course, 2023 is much different than, go back, 2019.

How has the pandemic impacted resources when it comes to our aging population?

- We've actually had a lot of additional funding because of the pandemic.

So all of the activities at the senior centers have been enhanced.

We have some additional funding through our office to just reach people who are homebound, so... ..that's been a positive.

- And what can a child do to help stay connected to their elder parents and loved one in general?

How can, in our busy lives, we stay connected to our aging parent?

- Maybe teach them how to use devices.

You know, so you could do FaceTime and those kind of things.

And just regular connections.

- Sure.

Wendy, I'd ask you the same thing.

What advice do you give to caregivers?

Say it's a child caring for their parent who may be getting care from one of the places from Lehigh Valley Health Network and getting care from nurses or therapists, that kind of thing, but there's nothing like your family member caring for you.

So how can we make time in our busy schedules for our loved ones?

- Just a five-minute phone call every day, you know, helps.

It is significant, something as small as that.

And even too, the families can also connect with the neighbors of their loved one and they can set up services that way, where they can have those connections.

That's very important, again, to get the community involved.

So meet with their neighbors and say, "Hey, can you check "on my mom or dad for coffee, you know, every couple of days a week?"

Or something like that.

- They say it takes a village when you have little kids, it also takes a village as we get older as well.

Ladies, Heather and Wendy, thank you so much for this important information.

We appreciate it.

And moving on, loneliness, isolation and feeling socially disconnected happens throughout society.

Now let's take a look at what is being done right here in the Lehigh Valley to push back at the grassroots level.

Our next guest is Director of Community Action Development in Bethlehem, an organization working particularly in the South Side.

We welcome Anna Smith.

And joining us once again on Zoom is clinical psychologist Melissa Hunt.

Ladies, thank you so much for joining us for this conversation.

Anna, people used to know their next door neighbors and now some of us, well, we just don't for whatever reason.

When and why do you think that this started happening?

- I think there are a lot of factors that contribute to this.

We know that it's something we hear from our neighbors on a regular basis.

There's a memory among the older folks in our community about their childhood, when they knew all their neighbors.

When they sent their kids out to the neighborhood park, they knew who was watching over them.

And there was that certain comfort level.

And we hear it from younger parents, too, who remember going to their neighborhood park.

And folks aren't quite sure what changed and what happened.

And so when we talk with them, though, you know, there's almost a sense of fear at times of sending your kids to the park because you don't necessarily know who your neighbors are.

I think there's a lot of societal factors that have contributed to that, from who's at home at different times of day.

But also particularly what we see here in South Side Bethlehem is housing mobility, right?

We used to have much more stable neighborhoods in our community.

And due to the affordable housing crisis that we're seeing throughout the Lehigh Valley, throughout the country at this time, particularly in South Side Bethlehem, where over 70% of families rent their homes and rental prices are skyrocketing, you don't have the same people living next door to you on a month to month basis.

And the more mobility we have in our neighborhoods, the harder it is to establish those social ties.

There are solutions for it, and there are a lot of great programs and folks in our communities working to address this, but it's gotten a little bit harder to make those connections with our next door neighbors, particularly given a lot of these factors that are happening nationally and that were exacerbated by the pandemic.

- Absolutely, Anna.

Combating loneliness and disconnectedness is kind of something the Action Committee does at their very core.

So talk to me about what you do.

How does this fit in to that?

- Absolutely.

So I think one of the things the surgeon general really emphasized as an important part of the solution is thinking of this issue not just as an individual health issue, which it very clearly is, but also as sort of a societal and community health issue and a neighborhood issue.

And so investing in social infrastructure is a key way to address this.

Social infrastructure refers to the programs, the policies and the physical assets that we have in our community that make social connection easier.

And so there's decades of research that speak to what these programs, many of which we've heard about today already, working with older adults.

But there are countless organizations designing programs, from places like the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley to Promise Neighborhoods in Allentown to Community Action, that are investing in youth programs, in opportunities for adults to engage in neighborhood meetings, where they're coming up with solutions for their neighborhoods.

And, you know, at the very core at a lot of these programs is that belief that the people who are best poised to address a concern in their community are the folks that live there.

And if we can create the opportunities to bring folks to the table and talk about what their concerns are and talk about what the assets in their community are, that you are... You're able to create opportunities to engage more people and to address some of the societal issues that are the very ones at times causing this epidemic of loneliness.

And so in addition to the programs, of course, there's also policies and policy advocacy, as well as looking at the actual physical spaces and built environment of our community and how that contributes directly or does not contribute to developing social connections.

- Sure.

And we talked about social media with Melissa a little bit earlier.

And social media has been really wonderful for groups when they're planning events, getting the word out and kind of connecting people in that way.

But do you see it happening the opposite way as well?

Do you see social media hindering that neighborhood connection at all?

- I think, you know, one of the wonderful aspects of social media is your ability to connect with a community that's broader than just your neighborhood, right?

If you're a lover of, you know, some specific book series, your neighbors might not have heard of it, but you can connect with those people even halfway across the world.

But when we're talking about connecting with our geographic community, you know, the people who live next door to us or two streets over, you don't usually find those people in your social media algorithm.

They're not the people whose feeds are popping up on a day to day basis.

And if you're staying in this online environment, you may never meet, virtually, your neighbor who lives just three houses down the street.

That requires getting out of your house and making that personal kind of physical connection with that individual.

And, you know, if you're spending more of your time on social media, you just may never make those connections.

And I think that's where, as an organization, we've realized social media can be an asset to us, but it's certainly not the answer to addressing the issue of social connection from a neighborhood standpoint.

- Sure.

And I'm going to ask Dr Hunt to join us in this conversation here and ask you, Dr Hunt, do you see social media interrupting that authentic connection within neighborhoods?

- Absolutely.

There's no question about that.

Similar to the new college freshmen who's sitting in their dorm room, staying connected to their friends from high school rather than actually connecting with the person who lives down the hall, we see the same thing in communities more generally.

And again, this can be a godsend for people, especially from marginalized communities, so LGBTQIA folks who might have a really difficult time finding people to connect with in their actual physical community or neighborhood.

It's great for them to find supportive communities online and on social media, but for the vast majority of people, you really need to get out there and get face to face.

Kids need to be out there riding bikes and playing ball with each other in the park.

Girls need to sit at the mall together and put their heads together and talk about things.

Those are the way in which we form those really true, lasting connections.

That's the way we get things like oxytocin going, the bonding hormone in our body, right?

Not the painkiller, but the hormone that's actually good for us and facilitates a feeling of love and connection to the people around us.

We need to be in person to get that.

And there's no question that social media is interfering with that for a lot of people.

- Sure.

And, Anna, I want to ask you about that.

So Community Action Lehigh Valley has an initiative to combat that, to combat people staying inside on their phones, to get people out and connect in their neighborhoods.

It's called South Side Tomorrow and it is a six-year initiative.

Tell us a little bit about it.

- Absolutely.

So we reached out to our neighbors throughout the South Side community, the residents, the small business owners, the folks who have a deep commitment to our neighborhoods, and we asked what their concerns were about the future in our community.

And what inevitably rose to the top was housing affordability and quality, which, as I mentioned, housing is the foundation of our neighborhoods, and it's something that's fundamental to address.

If we're going to build those social connections in our neighborhoods, you have to actually have a sense of a neighborhood.

And so we're investing in improving the quality of our housing and advocating for more affordable housing in our community and policy change that would ensure that tenants especially are able to remain in their homes.

But we're also investing in communication and connectivity initiatives.

That was the second biggest item we heard.

We want to feel more connected to our neighborhoods.

We want those block parties back.

We want the programs in the park.

We want to feel that we know who our neighbors are.

And so working with partners, we can't do it alone, we have over 30 smaller organizations, some larger organizations that work with us to put on events, to run programs that we're able to fund through South Side Tomorrow that get at just that, bringing people together to meet one another and to develop those relationships, to learn something new.

And in many cases, since these are primarily resident-driven, it's really realizing a vision of our neighbors themselves.

And that type of civic engagement and volunteerism kind of creates what they call a virtuous cycle of additional engagement and a snowball effect there.

And then finally, investing in our public and green spaces throughout our community.

Our built environment is extremely important in terms of creating physical spaces where people can connect with one another.

Our parks are a huge one, the way that our streetscape looks so that our community becomes more walkable.

There are more opportunities to encounter folks on the street.

When we're closed off in our cars, there's no opportunity for even passing social connection.

And so thinking about how we're developing our city as a whole and what our neighborhoods look like really is integral to fostering social connection throughout our neighborhoods.

- Absolutely.

As I mentioned, it's a six-year initiative.

But from what you've experienced so far, what's the feedback like?

What do people think?

- Well, just over the past three or four months, we've had a series of community meetings throughout the South Side.

And what I always say with community meetings, you may have had a long day and you feel like, "Oh, do I really want to go out to another thing tonight?"

And, you know, if you can just get yourself out the door of your house and into the community meeting, within minutes, we see how people's demeanor changes and how inspired they are to speak with other folks in their neighborhood they've never met before and hear, "Hey, we have the same concerns."

We might not share anything else in common.

We may come from totally different backgrounds and, you know, political views, race, ethnicity.

We may even be speaking different languages since we hold bilingual community meetings, in English and Spanish.

But we're all concerned about the trash and we're all concerned about parking or whatever it may happen to be.

We all want to promote the same types of youth programs in our neighborhoods.

Once those conversations get going, you break down those barriers and the excitement builds and we see that natural, human kind of craving for that connection.

And then when you're able to turn those ideas and those concerns into a productive solution, a constructive solution that brings everyone to the table to make it happen, you see that change really happening.

And so that's something we're hopeful will continue for the next six years and beyond in our neighborhoods, engaging more of our neighbors.

- Sure.

You mentioned barriers, things like language, things like people who maybe are in different housing, renters, that kind of thing.

How do you work around that?

How do you connect people despite those barriers?

- I think it's really important to take into consideration all of the potential barriers when you're designing a program, a meeting, an initiative.

And that's why putting community residents in the driver's seat, I think, is the most important.

I personally can't anticipate every single one of those barriers, but if I'm engaging enough of a diverse group in planning for something, we can be sure that those concerns will be brought to the table.

But just a few basics.

Always making sure that there's bilingual facilitators at any community event, making sure there's child care, that's a huge one, and making sure that you're feeding people.

Food brings people together.

And if you can tell someone, "You don't have to cook dinner tonight, we've got you covered "If you come out and hang out with us for an hour," it makes it a lot easier.

I can say that as a parent myself of two kids.

Give me the childcare and the food and that's going to be it.

Yup, I will be there.

I'll drag myself out of the house.

- Anna Smith from Community Action Lehigh Valley, some awesome information.

Thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

Continuing on, how and where we work play a significant role in our daily lives.

Feeling disconnected from work and our peers can make loneliness worse, something many of us experienced with the lockdowns and changing schedules during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Here to discuss workplace factors and how to deal with them is licensed psychotherapist and owner of Reset Outdoors, Connor Moriarty.

Connor, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you, Brittany.

It's good to be here.

- So sometimes we don't think about connecting at work, but it is something that happens.

We connect with our coworkers.

We were all on lockdown during that 2020 Covid pandemic, and now we're coming back out, but we've kind of lost some of those connections over the past few years.

Are you seeing this firsthand?

Can you talk about that?

- Oh, yeah, absolutely.

I think one of the things that we are becoming more abundantly aware of is just how much time we spend with our colleagues at work and how important it is to have meaningful, authentic connections, not only with the people we're working with but ideally even with the job that we're doing.

- Sure.

Do you think we'd even be having this conversation about loneliness and the surgeon general would be making this advisory if Covid-19 didn't happen?

- Well, I would like to say that this conversation has been had for years.

I think the pandemic really shone a light on it.

An analogy that I use that's maybe imperfect is that this has been a smoldering fire that some flammable liquid got poured on.

And we're seeing just how urgently we need to address this concept of authentic human connection, connection with our community and the natural world in a really intentional and purposeful way.

- Sure.

Reset Outdoors works with people in the workplace on a daily basis.

What are you hearing from them firsthand and how do you work with them?

- Well, a lot of folks that connect with us are bringing us in for a couple of reasons.

The first is there's an understanding that the way that we have done things in the past isn't sufficiently addressing the needs that we're currently seeing.

Levels of irritation, frustration, disconnection from the material of work and strained relationships are growing rapidly.

More than that, we see increased levels of anxiety, depression, traumatic stress and post-traumatic stress disorder, which some of the previous guests really shone some light on.

So how we approach connection and its impact on the work we do, including our ability to stay in our jobs, doing good work for longer periods of time, and the productivity that we see on the workplace are both related to the quality of the relationships that we have on the job.

- Sure.

I want to bring Melissa Hunt into this conversation.

And, Melissa, I want to ask you, what role does the workplace play when it comes to social media and the effects of loneliness?

- That's a great question.

Certainly, lots of workplaces have specific social media policies, right, where they don't want you posting about your place of work on your social media feeds.

Certainly people have gotten into trouble about that.

If you post something that you're unhappy about and that gets back to the company that you work for, people have lost their jobs over that.

So it gives this kind of illusion of like you're talking to people next to you, but, really, it's being broadcast to the whole world.

So that's very complicated and that is certainly something that many workplaces have in place.

I will say in thinking about the pandemic, one of the things that it also highlighted for people is how much they really, really hated commuting and how stressful commuting is and how much time is lost to commuting.

And I think many people are really pushing for people who are in professions where this is an opportunity to continue working remotely because they hate commuting so much.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if it were like Star Trek and we can actually just beam into the office and then instantly beam home?

I think that's what most people would want, because it would allow them to foster those real workplace connections but without having to spend 45 minutes in rush hour traffic to and from the office.

- Completely agree on that one.

And, Connor, I do want to ask, so when it comes to the workplace, how do we enhance those connections?

How does the workplace do that?

How do they make sure that all of their employees are staying connected/ And is that their responsibility at the end of the day?

- Two awesome questions.

I'm going to answer the last question first, which is, yes, absolutely.

And it's not just because of the impact it has on the individual's well-being and the function of the team and, of course, the overall productivity.

I think what workplaces need to do is get crystal clear about why this matters.

And then they need to talk to their colleagues, their coworkers, their team members, to figure out how they can start nurturing this level of connection on the job.

Why it matters is so important and how it's done is going to depend on the team, the organization, on the individual.

So giving people the space and time to figure out what matters to them, how they can approach these problems effectively, and then giving them the time and space to actually connect.

- Sure.

And so what can workplaces put into place to make sure their employees are connecting?

- I mean, the classic example's a Friday night happy hour.

I think actually giving space and time for people to connect in a way that doesn't necessitate work productivity.

It is absolutely important for people to connect authentically with the people they work with.

So a workplace happy hour is important.

We love the idea of taking lunch outside, making workplace breaks essentially a common practice on the job.

Mandatory, maybe or maybe not.

But that's going to take leaders taking themselves out of the office and leading by example, showing that they are addressing their ability to connect with people, managing their own stress and giving their brains a break.

It starts with showing folks how they can take the time and making sure that they have access to that on the job.

- Sure.

Connor, you've talked before about leaders leading by example.

What can they do to ready themselves for that position, to make sure that they are leading and taking care of themselves in the process?

- Yeah, being crystal clear and honest about how you are as a human being is the first place to start.

We do a really good job, especially those of us working in helping professions...

I would say, education, health care, public service in general, we're really good at ignoring our own needs.

And if you're going to actually lead change in this space, authentic connection depends on being present with the people you're with, and that can often be hindered by our stress levels.

So taking time to clear your mind, taking time to go for a walk, to have a quiet, peaceful, non-working lunch more than twice a week, getting outside for walks, 20 minutes a day, 2 hours a week, all these things really lead to measurable, positive impact.

- Sure.

You've talked about compassionate leadership.

What does that look like?

- That means taking a genuine, authentic interest in the well-being of the people who rely on you day to day.

It is a soft skill that leads to major changes, in not only the dynamic of the workplace but, ultimately, productivity and retention.

- Sure.

On the other side of things, Reset Outdoors, obviously, the second part of your title is Outdoors.

How does nature play into all of this?

How do we make authentic connections and incorporate nature and outdoors into this?

- Yeah, I want to point a little bit to Dr Hunt and her colleagues' research and showing how social media provides the sense of connection without the authenticity that is required for us to actually get the benefits.

We also know that connecting with the natural world for folks that maybe don't have a best friend, maybe they don't have family they can rely on or trust, there is solid research showing that a connection with the community and the natural world around you is an effective surrogate to connecting with other people.

For us in the Lehigh Valley, we're lucky.

We have so much green space.

I want to say that there's no neighborhood that is more than 15 minutes away from some sort of public green space.

And the surgeon general was abundantly clear that our investment in those green spaces and access, safety and equity is critical to making sure that people who don't have safe people to talk to can find that sense of connection in the natural world.

- Sure.

Now, does that mean we have to go hike up a mountain?

Or can it be something much simpler?

- Yeah.

Thank you.

No, it doesn't mean we have to climb Mount Everest.

You know, we can find that connection with the natural world by noticing the clouds in the sky, by checking out the stars at night, by feeling the breeze when we step outside of our door, by simply being aware of how nature is all around us all the time.

And we are a part of the ecosystem.

- Sure.

What's so great about the Lehigh Valley is the diversity of different areas.

We have green space, but we also have downtown areas.

So you're saying someone who lives in downtown Allentown can still have that opportunity to connect with the outdoors?

- That's right.

And the research makes that abundantly clear.

Just simply spending time outside of your house, even if it's sitting on your front porch, listening to the birds, that has a very profoundly beneficial impact on our entire health, not just our psychological health.

- Sure.

And so when you have these retreats with different companies to help connect the workforce, what are some of the practices Reset Outdoors puts into place?

- Yeah, one of the first things we do with any group we're working with is go for a walk.

For people that are able, we take ourselves out into the natural space, move our bodies gently.

We're not setting land speed records.

We're not trying to put miles behind us.

We're just trying to move slowly and intentionally while paying attention to the impact that that has.

The changes are very, very quick but very, very subtle.

And so once we start to see how our demeanor changes, how our mood starts to lift, how our awareness starts to become a little more open, it's a powerful reminder of just how great it is to sometimes be breathing.

- Absolutely.

So what's the reaction from some of the people that you take out for a walk?

Are they surprised that just a simple walk has elevated their spirits?

- Some people are floored.

Some people are really shocked by just how much better they feel.

I would say most people, it's like a reminder.

These are things that we know.

These are things that we are naturally drawn to.

And I think what Dr Hunt is saying is that the way that technology has started to influence our lives, sometimes for very good ways, but for most of us, it pulls us out of these natural inclinations to be with people in person, connecting meaningfully and also moving our bodies and spending time with the natural world.

- Absolutely.

Connor, is there anything that you want people to know before we end this conversation?

What should they take with them so that they stay connected with other people, what they're thinking about when they move forward?

- Yeah, I want to say that reconnecting after the time, the past three years that we've had, can feel very difficult and intimidating, and it's not one size fits all.

The way that I connect with people is not the way that you might connect with people.

So trust your gut, trust your intuition, and try things that you know have worked for you in the past.

It's a really good place to start.

- Wonderful.

Connor Moriarty from Reset Outdoors, thank you so much for that wonderful information.

And I want to thank Melissa Hunt from the University of Pennsylvania for joining us as well.

And that will do it for this Community Conversation: The Loneliness Epidemic.

We want to thank all of our guests for joining us tonight, as well as the seniors at the Cedar View Senior Center in Allentown for inviting us in for the day.

From all of us here at PBS39 and LehighValleyNews.com, I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Thanks for watching.