Research Hub

Coming soon: This site will contain a comprehensive database of SOLUTIONS to the loneliness epidemic.

• Studies about which solutions are working
• Evidence and outcomes from in-the-field projects
• Best practices learned in the field

If you have solutions or research to share, please contact us so we can include you in the program. Researcher and innovations selected for the research project will also have access to our activities, discussions, meetings, and non-public data.

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Reading List

Articles

• America needs a Chief Friendship Officer
• Friendship Files – The Atlantic
• Why Americans are so lonely — and what we can do about it
• One Part of Your Life You Shouldn’t Optimize

Books

• Together by Vivek H. Murthy
• We Need to Hang Out: A Memoir of Making Friends by Billy Baker
• Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam
• The Lonely American by Jacqueline Olds & Richard Schwartz
• Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection by John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick
• Overcoming Loneliness in everyday life by Jacqueline Olds, Richard Schwartz, and Harriet Webster

Research

• Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review. Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB (2010). PLoS Med 7(7): e1000316. 
• Effect of Layperson-Delivered, Empathy-Focused Program of Telephone Calls on Loneliness, Depression, and Anxiety Among Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Mini Kahlon – Maninder K. Kahlon, PhD1; Nazan Aksan, PhD1; Rhonda Aubrey, MHI1; et al
• “Loneliness in America: How the Pandemic Has Deepened an Epidemic and What We can Do About it.” Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Making Caring Common Project. February 2021.
• Cigna report – The Loneliness Epidemic Persists: A Post-Pandemic Look at the State of Loneliness among U.S. Adults

Video & Audio

• Introduction to Together with Vivek Murthy