“花了一段时间, but we’ve reached a point where it’s generally accepted that mental health should be given equal weight as physical health in considering one’s well-being,詹姆斯·卢本说, director of 英国广播公司老龄化太阳城官网所. “Now, we want to put social health on that same level.（摄影：Lee Pellegrini）
A group of 太阳城网赌平台 School of 社会工作 faculty, program administrators and students are co-leading a national initiative to eradicate social isolation, which they describe as “a silent killer – as dangerous to health as smoking.”
消除社会孤立, the initiative calls for public education, interdisciplinary collaboration between health and human services professionals, and promoting “effective ways to deepen social connections and community for people of all ages.”
The initiative is one of 12 that make up the Grand Challenges for 社会工作, a wide-ranging agenda organized by the 美国社会工作学会 & Social Welfare (AASWSW) that seeks to enlist social work researchers and practitioners in addressing major societal issues. Other Grand Challenges initiatives include ending homelessness, 制止家庭暴力, harnessing technology for social good and reducing extreme economic inequality.
Louise McMahon Ahearn Professor James 目前, who is also director of 英国广播公司老龄化太阳城官网所, is a co-creator of the social isolation initiative and also has helped AASWSW in putting together the Grand Challenges program. 目前 worked with BCSSW colleagues to draw up a proposal for including social isolation among the Grand Challenges: Assistant Professor Erika Sabbath; doctoral student Jooyoung Kong; Carrie Johnson, assistant director of the Hartford Center of Excellence in Geriatric 社会工作 (of which 目前 is director) headquartered at BCSSW; and adjunct faculty member Chebali Nadal. 梅勒妮Gironda, associate clinical professor at the University of Southern California, 他还共同领导了这项工作.
本月初, members of the BCSSW contingent traveled to Washington, DC, for the formal unveiling of the Grand Challenges, at the 社会 for 社会工作 and 太阳城官网 annual meeting.
“Professional meetings like this are the perfect forum for exchanging ideas and offering or receiving encouragement,卢本上周说. “It was a very energizing experience, and hopefully augurs well for the future.”
Although public perception may view it as a problem for the elderly, social isolation affects other populations, according to 目前 and his collaborators, and research suggests that more Americans across a wide age range are feeling socially isolated than in the past.
Physical and mental health problems associated with social isolation – including among children and youths – are well documented, 说目前, and there also can be public safety ramifications: Many adolescent mass murderers have been described as socially isolated or ostracized from their peers. Organizations such as the US National Institutes of 健康, AARP and the World 健康 Organization have identified social isolation as a major priority.
这是卢本说的, over the course of the initiative, he and his collaborators hope to form a more comprehensive picture of social isolation, by examining societal and demographic trends over a period of decades that have made it more difficult to form and maintain relationships.
“花了一段时间, but we’ve reached a point where it’s generally accepted that mental health should be given equal weight as physical health in considering one’s well-being,吕本说. “Now, we want to put social health on that same level.”
要做到这一点, social isolation should be part of social work education curriculums, 目前和他的合作者说, and assessment and intervention for social isolation should be incorporated into the profession’s practice protocols. 在更广泛的层面上, policies and programs that address social isolation are needed, 他们补充道, as are communities that enhance strong social ties.
Interdisciplinary cooperation will play a key role in understanding and eradicating social isolation, 目前和合著者指出. Epidemiologists could identify at-risk populations and subpopulations. 健康 service researchers could focus on controlling for social isolation in their models. Biologists and neuroscientists could examine biological pathways that account for the linkage between isolation and health consequences. Clinical researchers could develop and test interventions.
“最终, we all need to realize the importance of social interactions in our personal lives,吕本说. “We should factor our social health into career and other life decisions, and recognize that our social ties are something we need to nurture. Those connections are central to our health and well-being.”
——肖恩·史密斯，新闻 & 公共事务