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Originally written for my Substack: https://bhurghundii.substack.com/p/the-hidden-epidemic-of-loneliness
Over the Christmas period, I delivered 100+ calls using AI to older adults experiencing loneliness as part of my work with Albert, the AI companion which helps support older adults.
This work has prompted a broader reflection on the state of loneliness among older adults, which I wanted to touch upon this essay.
We have a loneliness crisis amongst older adults.
Before the pandemic, rates of loneliness were high: early 30 % of older adults reported significant loneliness in large meta-analyses but the COVID-19 pandemic intensified what researchers now describe as a behavioural epidemic among older populations globally.
During the pandemic, physical distancing, visitation restrictions, and disruption of daily routines removed many of the everyday social contacts that help maintain cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being - which hasn’t been helped by the social service cuts. The demand for carers is going up in the UK but supply is going lower.
Loneliness is dangerous
Loneliness is associated with serious health risks, including cognitive decline, greater disability, and elevated risk of dementia.
It is apt to describe what this as a “epidemic” which reflects both the sheer scale of the problem and its consequences: millions of older adults spend long stretches without meaningful interaction, with effects that extend beyond emotional discomfort into measurable physical and cognitive health impacts.
It is also apt to describe this as “hidden” as we rarely see it talked about in terms of elderly care issues.
A Band Aid For A Broken Leg
Human conversation is not a luxury; it is a key activity for a healthy human mind.
Conversation keeps people cognitively stimulated and provides emotional safety. It gives feedback, validation, and forces people to reflect and respond. These are exactly the systems that decline fastest with age.
Passive activities like television are inadequate in this regard. They fill time, not the gap. They don’t replace interaction, and treating them as if they do isn’t a neutral trade-off—it’s a weaker biological substitute. Despite this, television accounts for a substantial proportion of daily activity.
If conversation is necessary for cognitive health, then someone has to provide it. Either families do it themselves, or society builds systems that make it happen. Ignoring the requirement doesn’t remove the cost—it just pushes it downstream into healthcare, disability, and decline.
And it’s not happening
One must ask: if this is how we treat the older people in our society, how can we be expected to be treated the same? Is this what we must look forward to if we are not so lucky to have a supportive family or the money to support ourselves?