Opinion: How cities can combat loneliness

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At the beginning of 2024, San Mateo County took a pioneering step for Silicon Valley by becoming the first county in America to recognize loneliness as a public health emergency. Palo Alto is no stranger to this issue, having prioritized youth mental health for over a decade. As we navigate an era that can feel isolating and unpredictable, a commitment to investing in our communities and fostering genuine connections must remain a local policy priority.

As the Surgeon General reports on the impacts of loneliness and isolation, “Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Given the profound consequences of loneliness and isolation, we have an opportunity, and an obligation, to make the same investments in addressing social connection that we have made in addressing tobacco use, obesity, and the addiction crisis.”

Earlier this year, a Gallup and Meta study entitled “The Global State of Social Connections,” found that one in four young people in the world feels lonely – highlighting just how prevalent loneliness is today. Local reports, including those written by the Palo Alto Weekly, have reported similar struggles faced by our local youth through the pandemic.

Locally, we can act to address this; the San Mateo County Department of Health has committed to implementing evidence-based strategies outlined in the Surgeon General’s Advisory, focusing on six areas: strengthening social infrastructure, enacting pro-connection public policies, mobilizing the health sector, reforming digital environments, deepening knowledge through research and cultivating a culture of connection.

During this time of high loneliness, all Silicon Valley cities must examine how their policy decisions align directly with the Surgeon General’s advisory. 

Let’s look at three specific areas of this advisory that can be applied to local policy: strengthening social infrastructure, enacting pro-connection public policies, and cultivating a culture of connection. 

Regarding strengthening social infrastructure, it’s important to remember that connecting with others means creating spaces where neighbors can connect: libraries, parks, playgrounds – and programs that support them. Communities must design environments where people naturally connect and invest in institutions that bring people together. Multiple studies have shown that mental health and social connection are improved when communities have dense, well-made housing and many different types of housing, walkable neighborhoods and access to green spaces. You can organically gather when you live in a walkable neighborhood with a welcoming space to gather – close to your teachers, grandparents and grandkids. 

Enacting pro-connection public policies supports those green, walkable communities where your kids and grandparents can live within a few blocks of each other. Creating pro-connection public policies, pro-mental health public policies, doesn’t just include ensuring mental health nonprofits have stable funding, it’s ensuring public transit and walkability are invested in so you say hi to your neighbors taking the bus or biking to work everyday. It’s ensuring mental health professionals, teachers and families can live comfortably in your community by building housing, affordable housing, passing renter protections and investing in resources for neighbors struggling. It’s providing stability for your community to show your community members they matter and are invested in. Policies that invest in nonprofits, afterschool programs, early childhood education and community college. Community resources like this provide stability for so many. 

Cultivating a culture of connection underpins the success of reducing isolation and creating a sense of mattering. Isaac Prilleltensky, a professor at the University of Miami and a co-author of “How People Matter” emphasizes the importance of mattering. Mattering has a two-part definition: firstly, feeling valued and feeling seen in our relationships and community, and secondly, adding value and making a difference in the contexts we operate in. Research shows that as humans, cultivating a culture of connection where youth feel they matter results in increased self-compassion, relationship satisfaction and greater belief in their capacity to achieve their goals. While lack of mattering is associated with burnout, self-criticism, anxiety, depression, aggression and increased risk of suicide.

Volunteering and service are powerful ways to build a sense of mattering to cultivate a culture of connection. The Search Institute’s Developmental Assets Frameworks identifies Asset #9 Service to Others as a Gateway asset, which means that it is the key to unlocking 21 of the 40 other assets that help youth succeed in all areas of life. Increasing a culture of service among our youth helps foster a sense of matter. As expressed by a recent Youth Community Service (YCS) Youth Peer Leader, “I believe that through YCS I have been able to help my peers and others around me connect more and feel as though they are part of a community.”

“If we seize this moment, step up for our children and their families in their moment of need, and lead with inclusion, kindness, and respect, we can lay the foundation for a healthier, more resilient, and more fulfilled nation.” —Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States

Katie Causey is a Human Relations Commissioner overseeing equity policies at the City of Palo Alto, and a lifelong Palo Alto resident. She can be reached at katie@katiecausey.org.

Mora Oommen is the Executive Director of Youth Community Service, a local nonprofit with the mission to elevate youth voice to raise community connection and equity through service. She can be reached at mora@youthcommunityservice.org.