OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The bill is called the “Improving Measurements for Loneliness and Isolation Act”.
It’s sponsored by Nebraska Congressman Mike Flood, with the Senate version carried by Senator Pete Ricketts.
The idea is to create a working group to determine a baseline on measuring loneliness, and if what we already have in place can tackle the public heath crisis.
“The data shows that one in two Americans are reporting lonely,” Jillian Racoosin with Coalition to End Social Isolation & Loneliness said. “Gen Z is the loneliest generation.”
This summer, Racoosin helped organize the Global Loneliness Awareness Summit for the third straight year.
Bringing together stakeholders in what the Surgeon General called an “epidemic of loneliness.”
“At first, we thought this was an older adult issue — but this is really an issue across all life spans,” Racoosin said.
Think of it this way — loneliness has always been there, but the pandemic has cleared the way for people to talk about it.
“Suddenly, we could all relate and understand what it meant to be socially isolated from our family and friends,” Racoosin said.
The paradox is that at a time when technology brings us closer together, sharing information faster than ever, it’s also created closer relationships with our devices rather than people.
“I think we have to think creatively about who has contact with our friends and neighbors who are lonely and isolated — and what role could we play,” Rep. Flood said.
Congressman Mike Flood of Nebraska spoke at the Global Loneliness Awareness Summit this summer.
During the pandemic, he hosted a variety show on his TV stations where he received thousands of letters, many from widows living alone in rural Nebraska, appreciating the real world connection.
Flood shared back with a simple note. More proof, he says, our isolation and loneliness problem needs solutions, especially for aging Americans who don’t get around like they used to.
“There’s a guy in the West Point area according to the administrator of the hospital,” Rep. Flood said. “He calls the ambulance several times a year just to see somebody and be taken to the emergency room to have contact — not for any other reason that he is exceptionally lonely.”
While a working group of stakeholders figures out real policy outcomes, what can the rest of us do in our own day-to-day lives?
“Could be as easy as waving to someone in the neighborhood — trying to get to know someone in the area,” Racoosin said. “Just checking in with family and friends with texts, calls, FaceTime.”
Racoosin says she put her advice into practice when she moved out of an apartment recently, joining a book club, checking out religious options nearby, going to the farmer’s market.
The idea is that she may bond over a shared experience or shared love, like a book or a vegetable that may lead to a closer connection for everyone involved.
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Publish date : 2024-09-02 16:29:00
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