In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General's office issued its "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation" report, which found that loneliness and social isolation are massively detrimental to health. One of the most shocking statistics: "The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day," the study reported.
Why?
Loneliness increases the likelihood of a wide swath of major illnesses. That includes a 29% higher risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke. Locally, the Source Weekly reported on the lack of belonging among teens in recent years, with the story, "The Kids Are Not All Right," published in 2022. How much of the mental health crisis is loneliness that has become too much to bear? Is loneliness a piece of the puzzle in mass shootings, like the one that happened at Safeway in Bend?
There's a lot of loneliness and a lot at stake. There is also good news.
A strong social connection, "increases the odds of survival by 50%." That statistic comes from a review of 148 studies by the Surgeon General. More good news is that many people and organizations in Central Oregon are working to support stronger community and belonging. This leads to an important question: What is belonging?
Defining and measuring belonging
The Central Oregon Health Council initiated the creation of the Community Belonging Measurement Project because, "belonging was identified in their regional health plan in 2020 to 2024 as an area of need," said Camilla Dohlman, project manager for the CBMP. Oregon Health and Science University and OSU-Cascades partnered to contract with COHC to investigate the topic of belonging in 2022, with data collection in 2023. A part of OHSU, the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute, took the lead in doing the research "to develop and adopt a strategy for measuring belonging."
"We met with 21 community partners who represented a broad array of Central Oregon," said Dohlman. This included organizations in faith leadership, schools, local government, health care and minoritized groups including LGBTQ+, veteran and BIPOC groups. These partnerships assisted researchers in surveying 1,019 respondents from Deschutes, Crook, Jefferson and northern Klamath counties as well as the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
From this data, researchers created a definition: "belonging is the feeling of value and respect that comes through sharing experiences or characteristics with others." Some of the essential elements of belonging include reciprocity, equality, influence in decision-making in the community, feeling like the energy in community comes back to the individual and safety—both physical and emotional.
“We’re all lonely. I feel like there is a stigma to identifying as lonely, and I feel like the more we talk about isolation, the easier it is to solve the problem through simple connections.” -Jamie LaCore
The data on belonging showed Central Oregon achieved a score of 3.57 out of 5, where a 1 is a low score of belonging and a 5 is a high score of belonging. The top three situations and activities where people felt strongest about belonging included family, hobbies and shared lived experiences.
Workplaces and relationships with co-workers also ranked highly as a space where people felt a strong sense of belonging. However, transitions from the workplace to remote working are likely to impact this sense of belonging.
"We also heard that parenting in particular can be a socially isolating experience, particularly the introduction into parenthood," said Dohlman. This is in part because parents' social networks change during this transition. Comments from study participants raised concerns that there are few free and low-cost, kid-friendly activities available to parents and their children.
During the investigation, researchers also confirmed what the Surgeon General's report shared.
"One thing that came through really clearly in the data is that belonging is really a driver of health," stated Dohlman. With continued funding thanks to a St. Charles Health System grant to address loneliness, the CBMP will do another community survey in 2024, with more discoveries and recommendations on the way.
Simplicity in connection
One of the organizations on the ground floor of battling loneliness is the Council on Aging of Central Oregon. While already aware of loneliness as an issue in the aging population, the Covid-19 pandemic compounded the issue.
"During the height of the pandemic...our case management team was really noticing an increase in isolation and feelings of loneliness," said Jamie LaCore, program manager for the Council on Aging's Caring Connections program.
Caring Connections started in 2020 as a phone-calling program to provide social support and a wellness check on aging adults for families. It expanded to in-person events post-pandemic.
"This is a program that matches volunteers with older adults and adults with disabilities who are looking for social companionship," said LaCore. "We've had a lot of really positive experiences on both the participants' end, but also the volunteers."
During the initial assessment, 75% of program participants felt isolated, 76% felt left out, and 89% reported feeling they lacked adequate companionship. After six months in the program, those statistics dropped dramatically. The second assessment showed only 47% of program participants felt isolated, 31% felt left out, and 49% reported feeling they lacked adequate companionship. Overall, 88% of participants felt satisfied with the program.
Connection in retirement
One of the Caring Connections participants with positive experiences is Kristina Johnson, who began participating in November 2021. She enjoys the conversations and the occasional meetups she has with her volunteer. They share family stories and pictures from trips. The program is a welcome addition to her life as a retiree and former registered nurse of 40 years. She commented that after retiring, "You lose your work group. All of a sudden, you are just kind of alone."
Additionally, Johnson said, "You don't have to do anything anymore. You kinda have to regroup. What do you want to contribute? What do you want your life to be?"
Along with the support in Caring Connections, Johnson has found a deep value in volunteering to cultivate a sense of belonging and fight loneliness. "You just give and give as much as you want and can. The payback is five-fold, and there's just so many kinds of volunteering."
With the support of a $10,000 St. Charles grant and a $200,000 Community Care Corps Grant from the Association of Community Living — part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — Caring Connections will continue to support people like Johnson and do more in-person events to foster more connections.
Funding the fight against loneliness
As mentioned several times already, St. Charles Health System offers grants specifically to fight loneliness. In 2020, the health system performed a health needs assessment of the community. Mental health concerns ranked highly. When researchers interviewed community members about mental health concerns, they discovered that the mental health concerns often came from feeling lonely and a lack of belonging.
The issue was obviously heightened during the Covid-19 pandemic. But Carlos Salcedo, community benefit manager at St. Charles said, "I think Covid just amplified and magnified what was already happening." Because of this, the organization made their priority grant a grant to fight loneliness and isolation.
Some of the other organizations to which St. Charles awarded loneliness grants include La Pine Middle School, the National Alliance of Mental Illness of Central Oregon, Oregon Adaptive Sports, Parousia/SriPonya—a program for youth activities in Warm Springs, the Redmond Senior Center, Shepherd's House Ministries and the Trust for Public Land.
Later this year, St. Charles will gather the grantees to discuss the experiences they're having and what's working in fostering belonging. Initial metrics will track unique individual attendance, number of events and repeat attendance, but Salcedo sees this as a beginning. The gatherings will be a way to develop clear recommendations and answer the question of, "How are we going to move together as a community?"
The funding originates from St. Charles operating budget, and loneliness has been set as a priority grant for the next three years. Salcedo says it's St. Charles' way of giving back.
Building belonging together
Based on the initial research from local groups working in the field, it became obvious that more could be done to address this important and often-overlooked health issue.
The Central Oregon Health Council's CBMP research offers several large-scale recommendations to enhance belonging, including:
- More accessible recreational activities for youth
- More kid and kid-friendly transportation networks
- Funding for organizations that can support new parents
- Working with businesses to create more child-friendly restaurants and other spaces
At the individual level, people can do simple things. LaCore from Caring Connections at the Council on Aging encourages people to create moments of connection in everyday life. "If you're standing in line at the pharmacy, it's a great opportunity to ask someone how their day is."
Johnson, the retired nurse, suggests the importance of listening. "People have insights, and they can really teach you a lot if you just listen."
And Dohlman of the CBMP notes from their research the importance of "saying 'hi' to people on the street" and inviting others to do shared activities.
"We're all lonely," said LaCore. "I feel like there is a stigma to identifying as lonely, and I feel like the more we talk about isolation, the easier it is to solve the problem through simple connections."
- Jim Tolles teaches how to build and lead communities intentionally. Find him at spiritualawakeningprocess.com or [email protected].
