Human contact can do wonders

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/01/2023 (618 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“There is robust evidence that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase risk for premature mortality, and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators.”

— Prof. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Brigham Young University

Two years before the COVID-19 pandemic, a national survey conducted by Cigna — a private medical insurance company in the United States — found that loneliness levels had reached an all-time high among our southern neighbours, with nearly half of the 20,000 U.S. participants reporting that they sometimes or always feel alone.

A further 40 per cent of survey participants reported they sometimes or always felt that their relationships were not meaningful and that they felt isolated.

Further, Prof. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a U.S.-based professor of psychology and neuroscience who co-authored a meta-analysis on the subject, said that loneliness and social isolation are twice as harmful to physical and mental health as obesity.

Here in Canada, the situation isn’t much different. In fact, loneliness during the pandemic was an acute problem facing many of us — particularly those who lived alone or were forced to isolate during government-imposed restrictions. According to a survey conducted by Statistics Canada between August and September 2021, more than one in 10 people aged 15 and older said that they always or often felt lonely.

The report, called the Canadian Social Survey, also noted that young people in Canada reported experiencing loneliness more frequently than older people.

“Among youth aged 15 to 24 years, nearly one in four (23 per cent) said they always or often felt lonely,” the report stated. “This compared with 15 per cent of those who were slightly older, aged 25 to 34.”

Seniors over 75 years of age reported loneliness at a rate of 14 per cent, more often than those aged 65 to 74 at nine per cent.

The website Active Aging also suggests that, in addition to age, gender can be a risk factor as well, with women in a higher risk category for feelings of loneliness and isolation.

“Public health programs have been so focused on the dangers of smoking or obesity and little has been done to properly address the even greater health risk and ultimate silent killer, loneliness,” reads an article on the website called “Recognizing the Canadian Loneliness Epidemic.”

Part of the problem facing society, however, is that our modern life is geared toward a faster, less personal lifestyle.

We can grab a coffee at the drive-thru and offer little more than a “thanks” to the cashier as we sip our way out of the parking lot. We buy more and more items online, bypassing the need to shop local and meet the business owners and staff at our local stores. And even when we do get down to the grocery store or big box store, there are now more and more self-checkouts in place to make the experience as swift and effortless as possible. We can go an entire day without saying more than five words to another human being.

And the impersonal nature of our society is slowly killing us.

It’s not just social media that is the culprit, but our entire lifestyle. It’s far easier to vilify our neighbour, or the store manager, or that guy on social media who said something we disagree with, when we don’t know who they are.

At the same time, that lack of social cohesion is hurting our community, and the people within it. Think of the senior citizen who lives alone in an apartment who could use a little social interaction with a friendly face. There are people in our community who really need more human interaction, and a Dutch supermarket called Jumbo has decided to address that need by offering a checkout lane for chatty senior citizens.

Called a Kletskassa, which translates to “chat checkout,” this special lane is for customers who are not in a rush and have time for a little small talk with the cashier. And it’s not limited to seniors — anyone who needs a little person-to-person contact is welcome to do so.

The pilot project was introduced in 2019 as part of an initiative by the Dutch government called One Against Loneliness. Apparently the response was so positive, the company made plans to create 200 of these special lanes in all of its stores. According to the My Modern Met website, the company also introduced a “chat corner” where local residents can gather for a cup of coffee and a little conversation.

“Many people, the elderly in particular, can feel lonely,” said Jumbo CCO Colette Cloosterman-Van Eerd. “As a family business and supermarket chain we have a central role in society. Our shops are a meeting place, and that means we can do something to combat loneliness.”

Sure, this kind of initiative won’t solve mental health problems on its own, but it could be part of a larger effort for society to reconnect with itself.

While this may be a small thing for a large corporation to do — it’s one staffed checkout lane, after all — for so many of our friends, neighbours and family members, that little bit of human contact could do a world of good.