Lonelygenic Environments, Social Connection and Healthy Ageing

Professor Xiaoqi Feng outlines research on lonelygenic environments and the implications for healthy ageing.

Background
The WHO Commission on Social Connection has recently spotlighted loneliness and social isolation as critical health challenges of population ageing, with direct links to increased risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression and dementia. The concept of “lonelygenic environments” flips the conventional narrative on loneliness from one that focuses on individuals who require “fixing” to one that emphasises the role of urban planning, social policy and health systems in enabling social connection and flourishing for all. This talk will outline research on lonelygenic environments and explore potential solutions, including social prescribing and nature-based interventions, with implications for healthy ageing, prevention and more socially connected communities..

About the seminar series

The UNSW Ageing Futures Institute seminar series showcases the innovative research by our members, colleagues and collaborators that examines and impacts ageing societies.