loneliness

Participants in a recent shared medical appointment include, front row from left, patient Ellen Nelson, Merranda Holmes, MD, and Kevin Liu, MD, Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellow. Back row from left, Francis Balucan, MD, MBA, Taina Ovchinnikov, APRN, F-NP, and Erica Gray, PharmD.

Program studies impact of shared medical visits on loneliness and other issues

Vanderbilt is is studying how the use of shared medical appointments — when patients with common needs meet together with several health care providers — might impact loneliness, as well as other factors such as depression, substance abuse and utilization of emergency care.

Study explores health impact of social isolation, loneliness

For older adults, social isolation and loneliness are associated with greatly increased likelihood of early death, dementia and heart disease, according to a recent report by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).