The silent epidemic: The growing crisis of loneliness in Canada’s seniors

Amanda Cupido: This is The Forefront, a Toronto Metropolitan University podcast that explores ideas for cities. I’m Amanda Cupido.

So here’s the problem: nearly half of Canadians over the age of 50 are currently experiencing a mental and physical health problem that our health-care system still doesn’t fully understand. It’s a widespread issue that increases our risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, anxiety, and depression. The condition I’m talking about: loneliness and isolation. And every year, more Canadians are at risk.

When you visit your doctor for a checkup, chances are you talk about all the usual stuff: diet, exercise, stress levels, you know the list. But more and more research is showing that our relationships with others and our experiences of loneliness are central to our health, just as much as the food we eat and the amount we move our body, especially as we get older.

Recent research from the National Institute on Ageing reveals that up to 58% of Canadians aged 50 and over say they’ve experienced loneliness. And as Canada’s population ages, the number of isolated or lonely Canadians is expected to grow significantly.

Paul Knox: One of the traits, apparently, of humanity, is we’re social. We seek out each other’s company, where we join groups because of affinities that we have.

Amanda Cupido: Meet Paul Knox.

Paul Knox: And if you are not in contact with people, for whatever reason, you might be lonely. You don’t get that. You miss out on it. And I think that’s sad.

Amanda Cupido: He’s 74 years old and has been a journalist all of his life. Most notably, he reported from five different continents and spent six years as a foreign correspondent for The Globe and Mail.

Paul Knox: I kind of think there’s two kinds of loneliness. An existential loneliness and a physical loneliness. The existential is the sense that life is passing you by, that you’re nearing some kind of finish. The physical has all kinds of manifestations. You can be physically lonely. You can be lonely when you’re with people. A kind of wistfulness when you’re hearing people talk about things that you used to do and can’t do anymore.

Amanda Cupido: This is classic Paul. He’s such a deep thinker. Full disclosure: I know Paul really well. He was actually the chair of the School of Journalism at TMU when I was a student in the program. He retired in 2015, but we’ve remained friends. The reason why I wanted to have him speak to this is because he admits to feeling lonely, but not in the traditional ways.

Paul Knox: I’ve never been idle. I’ve rarely been bored. You know, I’ve been married for more than 40 years and, terrific support and love in our marriage, my marriage to Leslie. And that’s something a lot of people can’t say.

Amanda Cupido: As I sit across from Paul at his dining room table, he thinks deeply about how to describe his loneliness. His is the less obvious kind.

Paul Knox: I’m lonely because I miss parts of the world that I spent a lot of time in, that I would love to go back to, including places that are not that far away. I mean, you know, I live in Toronto, but I have spent a lot of time in central Ontario in what’s known as cottage country in Haliburton, Muskoka, Lake Worth, the lakes and so on.

And I just, you know, I really, really, really miss that. I mean, I first went up there probably when I was 6 or 7 years old and, you know, not being able to just tramp through a forest for a day or so is something I miss.

Amanda Cupido: The main reason why Paul can’t go for a hike in the forest is because he has multiple sclerosis. At first, the symptoms didn’t impact his day to day, but about five years after his diagnosis, he says it became increasingly troubling.

Paul Knox: I had to use a cane and then a walker and then a scooter. And you have a lot to deal with. A lot of doctors, a lot of appointments, a lot of medications, a lot of devices. And I think the other thing is you have to remember you’re aging, right. You have all these factors coming together. And I mean, you’re slowing down a bit. Then there are all these external factors that are making it more difficult for you to be in the kind of touch that you want to be in.

Amanda Cupido: I noticed this firsthand. Paul and I used to get together at least once a year at different restaurants around town, but as his mobility became more and more of an issue, I started to see him less and less. The pandemic also didn’t help. Thankfully, we’ve kept in touch through email and Facebook. Paul is very active online.

Amanda Cupido: How many? Just like hours, ish.

Paul Knox: Uh-oh. Gosh. Well, my phone basically says 24 hours a day because I don’t tend to log on and log off.

Amanda Cupido: But really, he’s on for a few hours a day with emails, texts, Facebook, Twitter and keeping up with the news. But sometimes, the news hits close to home.

Paul Knox: I just heard this morning, actually, about a person I worked with at The Globe who died on Monday. You know, so that’s perhaps a final manifestation of loneliness, is that people die on you and nothing is going to alleviate that. Except, of course. I mean, we’re going to talk about strategies for making newer and younger friends.

Amanda Cupido: Hey, wait a minute. Am I a strategic friend of his? I’m kidding. But real talk. Paul is not alone in how he’s feeling.

Alyssa Brierley: Folks who are experiencing social isolation and loneliness, first of all, they’re not alone. There’s lots of people who feel that way.

Amanda Cupido: That’s Alyssa Brierley. She’s the executive director of the National Institute on Ageing, or the NIA. In 2023, the NIA released a report called “Understanding the Factors Driving the Epidemic of Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults.”

Alyssa Brierley: We found that 41% of Canadians aged 50 years and older either experience or are at risk of experiencing social isolation, and up to 58% have experienced loneliness. So those are pretty significant numbers that we ought to take very seriously as a society, and policymakers and decision-makers should take seriously as well.

Amanda Cupido: Before we continue, it’s important to understand that although we often use the terms interchangeably, loneliness and social isolation are two different concepts.

Alyssa Brierley: Social isolation is an objective, measurable deficiency in a person’s social relationships, which in turn leads to a quantitatively diminished social network and then ultimately experienced in the form of fewer social interactions.

By comparison, loneliness is typically defined and understood to be an internal subjective experience that someone has, arising from when a person’s social relationships are lacking in quality and or quantity.

Amanda Cupido: Feeling lonely or being isolated can both come with some pretty serious health risks too. So much so that the World Health Organization declared loneliness to be a global public health concern in 2023, and has since launched an international commission to tackle the issue.

Alyssa Brierley: There are a number of health conditions associated with social isolation and loneliness, including mood disorders, dementia, cardiovascular disease, malnutrition, falls and ultimately, premature mortality. And in fact, the risk of premature mortality arising from social isolation and loneliness has been found to be comparable to other well-established risk factors like smoking, lack of physical activity, obesity, substance abuse, injury, and violence, as well as just a lack of access to health care.

Amanda Cupido: Alyssa explains there are three types of older adults who are more likely to experience social isolation or feelings of loneliness. Those are: people who are income insecure, people who do not have children and people who report poor health.

Also, interestingly, the report found that older women reported loneliness in higher numbers than men.

Alyssa Brierley: The aging process is often characterized by transitional life events that will shift someone’s role, which can also, in turn, make it more difficult for someone to establish social ties. In addition to that, the traditional sources of social support can diminish for people as a result of common life events, as one’s health declines due to chronic conditions, things like incontinence, visual or hearing impairments, people often find that their ability to continue participating in social interactions is diminished as well.

Amanda Cupido: The NIA is Canada’s only policy and research institute that focuses on issues related to aging. In the next 20 years, our older adult population is expected to grow by 68%, and Alyssa says tackling this national issue is going to require an all-hands-on-deck approach.

Alyssa Brierley: Treating this issue as a priority is job number one for government and policymakers. We’ve proposed taking action in the form of creating a national strategy to address social isolation, loneliness and treat it very much like other health or social issues.

Amanda Cupido: The report suggests that Canada follow the example of other countries that have implemented strategies to combat their high numbers of lonely or socially isolated citizens. For instance, Australia has a national organization called Ending Loneliness Together. Also, countries like Japan and the UK both have appointed ministers of loneliness.

Alyssa Brierley: Certainly, encouraging older adults to engage socially and participate in activities would be really important. If you know an older adult, stopping in for a visit or scheduling rotating visits with friends and family can help them feel more connected and supported. Things like sharing a meal can go a long way.

Amanda Cupido: So while we wait for a national policy reform to tackle social isolation and loneliness, there are a few ways that we as individuals can help people in our family, social circle or a community feel more connected. And no matter how old you are, reaching out to an older person for a coffee, a walk, or even just a phone call could make all a difference in that person’s day, and in yours.

Alyssa Brierley: Older adults don’t necessarily only want to connect with older adults, and there’s a lot of benefit that younger generations can gain from connecting with older adults, providing transportation can, you know, allow them to visit with others and connect with their community. So that’s something that folks should consider offering help with.

And then, of course, leveraging technology to stay connected, things like a group chat or messaging, video calls all make it pretty easy for us to stay in touch with one another these days. So all of those can provide an older person with a meaningful connection to the lives of their family and friends that they care about.

Amanda Cupido: With the help of organizations like the NIA, Alyssa believes in a future where Canadians will have access to services and resources that not only help with loneliness and isolation, but also help to prevent individuals like Paul from ever experiencing them in the first place. And in the meantime, she says, it’s important not to lose hope.

Alyssa Brierley: This isn’t a static condition that goes one way, it is reversible, it is preventable, and things can get better for people. So even when one is experiencing social isolation and or feeling lonely, it’s something that can be fixed.

Amanda Cupido: Before we go. Here’s Alyssa one last time about how TMU has supported this important research.

Alyssa Brierley: To be frank, I don’t think there would be an NIA without TMU. We were conceptualized as an organization and very quickly found a welcome home for this work, that was willing to incubate and grow the organization over the course of the last 10 years through the Ted Rogers School of Management. And I don’t think there is a home at a lot of other educational institutes to really incubate startup scale organizations like ours. So we are very grateful to TMU for the opportunity to be here and the space that they’ve provided and the support that they’ve provided us to be able to do this over the years.

Amanda Cupido: This podcast was created for alumni and friends by University Advancement at Toronto Metropolitan University. Special thanks to our guests on today’s episode: Paul Knox and Alyssa Brierley. This podcast was produced by me, Amanda Cupido, and Jasmine Rach, who also edited the show. We are both proud grads of TMU. The team from the university includes Haweya Fadal, Meredith Jordan and Rivi Frankle. To help fuel the research and learning coming from the National Institute on Ageing, consider donating to Toronto Metropolitan University. Join us in shaping a brighter future together. Visit torontomu.ca/alumni.