Understanding Loneliness

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Community is built of consistent, familiar, human connections.

Loneliness is a serious global health risk.

Social prescribing boosts happiness and well-being.

Small, regular actions can build lasting community.

You may belong to several communities and not realize it until one or several disappear.

A community can look like a group of people who show up at the same place, week after week, without thinking of themselves as anything special. For example, across the United States, community members come together to play pickleball each week. This is one of the fastest-growing sports among midlife and older age groups, and though they may see it as “just pickleball,” it’s much more than that.

A community is a group of people with common interests living in a particular area. It isn’t just formal groups or memberships. It includes groups you see often that share something with you, like an interest, a routine, or a place, and quietly become part of your life. Here are some everyday examples of communities most of us take for granted:

Religious or volunteer groups

The key is that community is made up of consistent, familiar, mutual human connections. It does not have to be highly structured. You don’t have to get together frequently, and it doesn’t have to be deeply intimate for it to matter.

I’m currently a member of a dinner club where more than ten women gather monthly over dinner, each person taking a turn planning the event. Many of the members didn’t know each other beforehand, but several quickly became close. The possibilities for creating community are vast. Think of simple things like playing sports in the park with regulars, knowing your mail carrier or pharmacist by face and name, or having ongoing relationships with barbers, hair stylists, and nail technicians. Our communities are built out of our routines, our hobbies, and the people with whom we interact at a level that feels meaningful.

The problem is that many of........

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