A Bipartisan Effort to Ameliorate Loneliness in the Elderly

 

I was never much of a fan of Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), who I always saw as a Paul Ryan-like, neoliberal politician. He was, for example, adamant about sunsetting Social Security, a wildly unpopular policy proposal that he later rescinded amid bipartisan blowback. 

For all intents and purposes, Scott's record, both during his time as Florida's Governor and Senator, is cookie-cutter GOP establishmentarian. 

That said, sometimes people surprise you. 

Scott, in partnership with Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), reintroduced the Social Engagement and Network Initiatives for Older Relief (SENIOR) Act, a bill that was endorsed by the Foundation for Social Connection, earlier this month.

According to a press release, the bill would:

• Promote programs that combat loneliness and support community integration for seniors by adding “loneliness” to the definition of “disease prevention and health promotion services” under the Older Americans Act.
• Direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to prepare a report on the impacts of loneliness on seniors and propose solutions for identified impacts; and
• Through the report, analyze the relationship between the strength of multigenerational family units, loneliness, and seniors. 

On that second point, the SENIOR Act would require Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was narrowly confirmed by the Senate on February 13, to take the issue of loneliness and social isolation quite seriously. 

Regarding integration of the elderly into society and the power of multigenerational-connectedness, I'm reminded of this case study from Robert Putnam and Lewis Feldstein's Better Together. Putnam and Feldstein, as I recalled in an article for National Review:

...tell the story of Experience Corps, a program launched in 1996 that fostered intergenerational connection by bringing elderly volunteers to elementary schools to tutor reading and math. This experimental program was, in so many ways, a win-win: Students, who often felt insignificant or even dumb, learned that “they themselves are worth paying attention to,” and the elderly, retired and feeling as though they no longer served a purpose in society, proved that they still had so much to offer, in the forms of wisdom, guidance, and community.

These are the kinds of initiatives that we ought to be advocating for.  

And, between Interior Secretary Doug Burgum (Confirmed January 30), who has been an outspoken advocate for walkable cities, wherein humans are prioritized over cars; HHS Secretary RFK JR. (Confirmed February 13), who would, if the SENIOR Act were to pass, have to release a report on the impact of loneliness on the elderly; and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat (Not yet confirmed as Surgeon General), who, in an article about her experience treating patients during the pandemic, wrote, "Avoiding family, friends and loved ones was probably one of the most negligent measures forced upon Americans," a powerful team ready to promote social connection appears to be taking shape.

Fingers crossed...