Loneliness is a problem that has only
increased since the pandemic, causing a
different crisis of its own.
This academic year, Public health students at
UMass Amherst have once again partnered with
Northampton Neighbors for a special
storytelling project entitled "The Epidemic
of Loneliness: On Connection, Belonging, and
Public Health.
" The course, which is led by Professor
Gloria DiFulvio, connects students with
elders in the community to participate in
documented conversations that, in turn, lead
to a strengthened bond and community
engagement.
The seed for this class began actually before
the pandemic. Just about the time of the
pandemic, I had read this book by Dr.
Vivek Murthy, who is our current surgeon
general. The book is called "Together: The
Healing Power of Social Connection." And he
was talking about how globally, we are in a
-- really loneliness pandemic where people
are more disconnected for a variety of
reasons, whether it's, you know,
disconnection because of refugee status,
disconnection because of losing home,
disconnection because of aging.
And in public health, a really central part
of health is that social connection, that
feeling of belonging, that sense that you
you matter in the world.
And so, I felt like it was a very important
class to add to our curriculum in public
health. And as I thought about, you know, we
can sit in a classroom and talk about these
issues, but really the opportunity to
connect and to to actualize that connection
was key to feeling -- like, I wanted that to
be a central part of the class.
And so, Hellen and Jonathan, you both were
part of this course.
Tell me, what interested you in taking part
in this project?
Well, I found that there was even more to it
than Gloria mentioned.
A lot of older people like myself may know
their grandchildren, but they really don't
know other people of that, that age and vice
versa. And we were very frank with each
other. We got to know each other through
individual conversations and then we
recorded interviews.
And it's amazing how easy it was.
And even for us old folks who don't know
quite how to work, Zoom and all that kind of
thing, it was the young people who who fixed
this up. And I think Gloria's idea would
work with law students, it would work with
all kinds of students, not just nursing
students.
Yeah, and for me as well.
Before I took this class, I was a bit
hesitant about first, taking this course of
being a part of this intergenerational
project, because I couldn't figure out how
to these two connections or these two
generations could come together and connect
and find common ground.
I never got the chance to know my own
grandparents, so it was -- I didn't even
have a glimpse of how that could work.
However, as I got through the project and
learning and meeting my partner, I realized
that we weren't all so different.
We connected on not only our individual
experiences of loneliness and being part of
this world, we also connected on things
like, you know, gardening, for example, or
music or travel. It's like I was talking to
a friend and a friend that I've known for a
long time, and I realized a lot about myself
and my personal belonging on, you know,
this big earth.
So, tell me a little bit about how the course
works, because I know that there's some
academics that are tied to it, and then you
bring in the storytelling aspect that
connects the Northampton neighbors.
So, what does the process look like in the
class?
When we first meet, we do a lot of work in
the classroom to get to know each other and
to try to create a community where learning
can happen safely and...and deeply and and
very different than it happens for -- for
most classrooms, where one person talks and
then people ask questions and we engage
together. And so, we then learn about a
whole range of topics, right?
We just finished this class, currently just
finished talking about the refugee crisis in
the -- globally.
And then we move on to other forms of
disconnection for the first part of the
class, then we move on to how do we do
something about it? How can we move from an
individual idea of what loneliness is to a
community solution and thinking about social
infrastructure and thinking about civic
participation, thinking about stories and
conversations and all as a way to to create
community and to work on that feeling of
connection and belonging.
And Hellen and Jonathan, I know that there's
a partnership that happens between the
students and the Northampton Neighbor
members. So, tell me about that partnership
and what happens?
How does the interview work?
What's the style like?
Well, Gloria put us together and I'm amazed
how quickly the friendship developed.
I've become friends with both the students I
worked with, and we're still in in
connection with each other.
I'll be interested in what the permanent
influence will be of this class.
And I hope this class spreads, as I said,
to law students.
And I mean, it would fit for any kind of
student, I think, not just nursing --
nursing students.
No, I think you're absolutely right,
Jonathan, because this loneliness, it's
something that can affect all of us,
regardless of what we're studying, our
backgrounds.
Yeah.
And it's it's a public health concern.
And so, if we're part of the public, it's a
concern for all of us.
So, I think you make a really valid point
that this is something that --
And young people, young people can be just as
lonely as older people.
Well, and speaking of that, I was actually
reading a Harvard report that was saying
that the two demographics that have been
most affected by loneliness are young adults
and the elderly community.
And so, here you have these two generations
coming together to kind of talk with each
other. So, tell me about some memorable
moments and revelations that really stuck
with you after doing the project and
interviewing each other.
Some conversations are just general
conversations about life, but others can be
very focused.
For instance, I had one student, member of a
large family that she loves dearly.
But she is the only person in the family
who's vaccinated and who believes in
vaccination. Everybody else was hostile to
it. And how that all worked out was -- was
fascinating to listen to.
And she was quite willing to talk about it.
And for me, with my partner, we did talk a
lot about, you know, the smaller things.
But during that time, during the spring
semester, we thought we had some situations
going on with UMass Amherst and the Black
community specifically, and so it was hard
to verbalize that in a way.
But my partner really pulled it out of me to
really talk about it in a comfortable way
where I was like, I had to come back and
realize that even though this is still
happening and it's sad and it's horrible
that I still belong here and that I can
still find peace and belonging -- it tears
me up. But I still find belonging here, even
though...the rest of the world may not feel
like -- may not feel like I do belong.
What have you learned about yourself
throughout this process?
That I'm worth listening to and that I have a
story to tell.
You know, sometimes it's hard to reflect on
your life and figure out how something so
small in your life can become something so
big or, you know, before I thought stories
were about you had to have a wisdom or age
to tell the story, but a good story can come
from anything. And I realize that even
though, like I said before, there's this big
world and that there's so much going on,
that, you know, there's still people who want
to listen to you and people still care to
learn about who you are and the stories that
you have to tell and that you belong in some
sort of space, whether that's a small space
or a community, or that you belong and that
you're connected to.
There's so many people who want to be
connected to you, and there's people that
care to be connected.
And lastly, we were talking about loneliness
affecting us all.
And so, what message would you all want to
share with others about connecting and
having that sense of belonging with each
other? What tips would you want to share
with people?
We live in a very hyper-individualistic
society that tells us we have to do it
alone, that these great individuals
throughout history did it alone and really
they didn't do it alone.
We don't -- we can't do it alone.
We are a community.
Community matters.
We need to care about one another.
And there are lots of ways to do that.
And getting involved in your community --
community really matters.
And, you know, we need to we need to
remember that we actually exist communally.