At the age of 93 “and-a-half,” Inge Fowlie is so busy she schedules meetings days in advance.
Engaged in international women’s groups and climate-change committees, Fowlie also spends time with a friend who has just three hours of freedom, one day a week, to leave her fragile husband with a government-paid caregiver, a diminished existence that has left her isolated and lonely.
“She looks like a ghost,” said Fowlie. “She’s fading.”
While Ƿɱ’s days are full, many older Canadianslike her friend, feel isolated and lonely, particularly those with a limited incomewho cannot afford private caregivers, better housing or social opportunities to connect.
As Canada shifts to super-aged statusin the early 2030s, when one in four adults will be over the age of 65, an analysis by the (NIA) found that more than 40 per cent of those aged 50 and older are at risk of social isolation while 58 per cent have experienced loneliness.
That’s a major public health concern, the report noted, because loneliness and social isolation are linked to serious health conditions such as dementia, cardiovascular disease, malnutrition, falls and premature mortality.
“Older adults are especially at risk of experiencing social isolation and loneliness because the ageing process is often characterized by transitional life events that shift one’s roles and circumstances, which can also make it more difficult to maintain or establish social ties,” said the report called Understanding the Factors Driving the Epidemic of Social Isolation and Loneliness among Older Canadians.
Released on Dec. 5, the analysis is based on results from the ’s Ageing in Canada Survey published in June 2022, which looked at social isolation and loneliness — two separate but often related experiences — among 5,885 respondents in 10 provinces.
Both experiences have captured the attention of international governments that, unlike Canada, have national strategies and government offices devoted to combating the conditions that can bring emotional and physical harm.
The United Kingdom and Japan have a minister of loneliness, with numerous countrywide programs — including “social prescribing” that connects people to local groups or services and in the U.K., a door knocking program for conversations with neighbours.
In the United States, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a 2023 report with a plan for a national strategy to create social connections. Isolation, the report said, has the same health impacts as six alcoholic drinks a day.
Smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day is another oft-used comparison.
It comes from a 2010 meta-analysis (using data from multiple studies) by U.S. researcher who used smoking as a benchmark to show the risk of premature death from a lack of social connections.
Measuring overall rates of loneliness and social isolation is a challenge, the NIA report said, citing disparate methods of quantifying the conditions. Different countries and researchers use tools that often make comparisons difficult, the NIA said, calling for a unified approach in its recommendations.
Recommendations repeat the 2022 report’s call for a national strategy, citing the work in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. A national strategy, the report said, must include a “life course perspective” to avoid the cumulative damage from isolation and loneliness in earlier years and the promotion of intergenerational connections.
It called for better research on programs designed to mitigate social isolation and loneliness; age-friendly communities and social prescribing.
The report also noted online platforms such as (for shared interests among older adults) and (connecting families, friends and caregivers) that were developed under AGE-WELL, a Canadian network supporting aging and technology startups.
Alex Mihailidis, ҷ-·’s scientific director and CEO, said the network connects developers with the older adults who will be using the technology to understand the functions and features needed.
“And really, by doing that in the co-creation process, we have a better understanding of what to be including in not only technologies for social isolation, but all the technologies coming out of our network,” said Mihailidis, a University of ɫɫ professor.
While the NIA report found a significant number of older Canadians struggle with the debilitating impacts of isolation and loneliness it said that, perhaps unexpectedly, the 80-plus crowd reports busier social lives than younger cohorts.
Less than 30 per cent of Canadians aged 80 and older could be classified as socially isolated compared to 45 per cent of Canadians aged 50 – 64 years and 40 per cent of Canadians aged 65 to 79.
Octogenarians could have the edge for two very different reasons, said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and the University Health Network and, director of health policy research at the NIA.
By the age of 80, Sinha said, some who might have reported isolation and loneliness have already died, often prematurely, since research shows that social isolation and loneliness are comparable to the detriments of smoking, obesity, substance abuse, injury and violence.
“Others are able to make adjustments or take actions to stave off loneliness and social isolation, when they understand how bad it can be for their health and well-being,” he said.
Still, the report said the numbers “remain at concerningly high levels among older Canadians regardless of age.”
Older women appear to experience higher levels of loneliness than men, although the NIA said there were “no major differences” between older Canadian men and women in their reported experiences of social isolation.
It’s analysis found that 63 per cent of Canadian women aged 50 years and older said they are either somewhat lonely or very lonely, compared to 53 per cent of Canadian men of the same age.
Of particular importance are family ties, the survey found.
“Specifically, the presence of both partnerships and children appears to have considerable benefits in old age, while not having a partner or children appears to contribute to greater experiences of social isolation and feelings of loneliness,” the report said.
Socioeconomic status also plays a key role, the report said.
From anecdotal experience in her wide friend circle, Fowlie has reached the same conclusion.
Friends with money, she said, are moving into retirement homes with built-in social activities and supports that cost “thousands and thousands of dollars.”
But the friend who Fowlie said is “stuck at home” with her husband, except for that three-hour window of freedom each week, can’t afford a retirement home so she has his name on the wait-list for a more affordable nursing home bed.
“It’s a three-year wait and she’s just a year and a half into it,” Fowlie said.
“It’s a real horror story.”
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