“Loneliness is not just something for individual Canadians to solve on their own” says Susan Pinker, psychologist and author of The Village Effect, a book about how face-to-face communication is linked to good health, longevity and happiness. “It’s a public health problem that has to be addressed in the way our cities are designed, the way our educational systems are run, the way our health care is considered and managed, and how we take care of the most vulnerable people in society — the very young, the very old, and those who are sick or fragile. Social isolation must be tackled at all levels of government.”
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