Loneliness among older adults has abated since the beginning of the pandemic, but it is still a problem, particularly among those with mental or physical health challenges or disabilities. That is according to the National Poll on Healthy Aging from the University of Michigan, which gathered the latest data in January.
In 2023, 1 in 3 adults ages 50 to 80 (34%) reported feeling isolated from others in the past year. That compares with 56% who felt isolated in 2020 (the beginning of the pandemic) and 27% in 2018, the findings said. The University of Michigan took polls in 2018 and during all three pandemic years using the same questions. The poll is based at the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center.
For those who reported fair or poor mental health, feeling isolated some of the time or often in the past year was more common (77% versus 29% of those reporting excellent, very good or good mental health), according to the poll results. The same feelings of isolation held true for those with fair or poor physical health (55% versus 29% of those reporting better physical health), and those with a health problem or disability that limits daily activities (51% vs. 26% of those without such limitations).
Similarly, feeling a lack of companionship some of the time or often in the past year among those who reported fair or poor mental health, fair or poor physical health, or having a health problem or disability that limits daily activities, the data revealed.
“Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we see reason for hope, but also a real cause for concern,” Preeti Malani, MD, the poll’s senior adviser and former director, and a U-M Medical School infectious disease professor who is also trained in geriatrics, said in a statement. “If anything, the pandemic has shown us just how important social interaction is for overall mental and physical health, and how much more attention we need to pay to this from a clinical, policy and personal perspective.”
