You may have seen the images above and thought to yourself, as I did, "Can loneliness really do that?" Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding, "Yes...and even worse!" This ignited my passion for this Social Determinant of Health and prompted my Loneliness Eradication Journey.

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I continued my research and stumbled across an equally disturbing ITV News documentary about Loneliness in the UK from 2018. I was already astounded by the effects, but now I was alarmed by the number of sufferers there (over 9 million). I came across several news articles including one from the Independent entitled, "Loneliness on its way to becoming Britain's most lethal condition" and the New York Times entitled, "U.K. Appoints a Minister for Loneliness."

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As I continued researching, I discovered this was a global crisis. Almost every country from the Netherlands, to Australia, to Africa, to Germany, to Canada, to Scotland to Japan (who also appointed a Minister of Loneliness) all reported epidemic levels of loneliness. The US was no exception. In a 2019 survey, three in five Americans (61%) report that they are lonely compared to more than half (54%) in 2018. There were many in the US "sounding the alarm" for quite some time like Dr. Sachin Jain, President and CEO, SCAN Group & Health Plan (the first to refer to loneliness as a disease). CIGNA Healthcare and its CEO David Cordani has said, "...understanding and solving the loneliness epidemic is both a health and a business imperative." Dr. Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General advised “There is a growing body of data and science that’s telling us that loneliness is more prevalent than we thought and it’s also growing over the last several decades. Loneliness places the body in a chronic stress state and increases inflammation levels, increases our risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses. The mortality effect associated with loneliness is even similar to the life-shortening that we see with smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Essentially that data is telling us that loneliness kills”.

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I kept digging into the data and found that loneliness is linked to the conditions and diseases listed here, but it is also linked to the recurrence of Breast Cancer. This drove me to develop an award-winning, insights–driven, customized Loneliness eradication strategy/methodology for breast cancer survivors and sufferers (patients and caregivers).

 

Research continues to demonstrate that the effects of loneliness are catastrophic. In fact, a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found elevated loneliness was associated with higher mortality risks among cancer survivors. The workplace is no exception. Studies have also shown that it has a significant impact on productivity and attrition, which costs the US over $550 billion a year and the UK £2.23 billion per year. ​

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Despite loneliness being recognized as a health crisis around the world, there is still a lack of sustained urgency that results in long-term action. Companies in general, those I’ve worked for and/or start-ups in the space are either:​

• not well versed in the associated health outcomes and workplace impact data and/or apathetic (therefore disinterested in/incapable of addressing it)

• intimidated by the scope of the crisis and don't know where to begin/how to approach it 

• focused only on one or two of the affected populations (when there are several)

• focused solely on digital solutions or in person interactions  

• provided an "everything but the kitchen sink" unstructured approach with disjointed  solutions/programs not thoroughly measured for effectiveness

• unaware of the severity

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Therefore, I felt compelled to funnel my passion, Subject Matter Expertise and 21+ years of demonstrated experience partnering with clients to optimize their internal operations, support Healthcare Providers (HCPs), Patients/Caregivers in achieving ongoing improved health outcomes into starting RPJ Consulting LLC. Not just the only firm focused on the eradication of Loneliness, but the only firm with a customizable, award-winning strategy and methodology guaranteed to drive the alleviation of loneliness and address any existing comorbidities in target populations.   

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