UnLonely Conference Recap

​​To many people a conference on loneliness doesn’t sound like the most exciting thing in the world. Yet, there are many folks, including myself, who find this part of the human existence to be quite important. So much so that dozens of us met for an afternoon of panels at the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in New York City on Wednesday, May 9. Put on by the UnLonely Project, attendees included those from colleges, major corporations (such as Prudential and News Corp), The New York Times, and organizations that cater to seniors and military veterans. Co-chaired by Jeremy Nobel of Harvard University Medical School and Julianne Holt-Lunstad of Brigham Young University, the conference presented three panels.
 
The first focused on signs of optimism, looking at some promising attempts to combat loneliness. For example, AARP in Georgia creates activities to connect seniors to the arts (in this case, painting). Prudential Financial asks questions about loneliness as part of their view of employees' health.
 
The second panel looked at some of the obstacles faced in dealing with loneliness. This included issues with home care workers who work in isolation with ill patients and attempts with students at New York University (NYU) to find connections when starting school.
 
The final panel looked at whether innovations offered can be catalysts for large-scale changes in combating loneliness. Are there models that can be enlarged to tackle this issue? While the question has no definitive answer, panelists agreed it’s imperative we try.
 
The panels covered a range of groups affected: business, military, and seniors. But my personal interest in loneliness is with college students and I came away with a lot to think about. I thought about my experiences in college and grad school. I often felt as though I didn’t fit in, which left me feeling quite lonely. There is still so much stigma attached to loneliness that it spurs a basic question: How do you break through with those who may not want to identify as lonely? It’s possible an answer to this is to speak about connection and belonging with students as opposed to using that seemingly taboo word, lonely.
 
Allison Smith, who works with student health programs at NYU, raised another useful point. She spoke of how important it is for individuals to take the lead in discussions with loneliness. Universities should allow for places for this to happen but not force students down a specific path. This reminded me of the value of student-led mental health groups such as Active Minds. These organizations, and not college administrations, should be leading discussions on loneliness.
 
I also appreciated Smith’s comments on allowing places on campus for those who don’t fit in to traditional clubs and organizations. I know that in college I would’ve appreciated more options for people like me who didn’t identify with much of anyone at my rural, conservative university.

There were so many good points made throughout a half day’s conference that I hope the program is lengthier next year. Loneliness is a part of the human condition that is being brought into the forefront in our society. Yet there’s still a lot of discussion that needs to happen so that, as Jeremy Nobel said, we move this conversation from knowledge to action. The UnLonely Conference is a good start.