41% of older Canadians experience loneliness.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The National Institute on Aging (NIR) released a report on December 5, 2023 titled: Understanding the Factors Driving the Epidemic of Social Isolation and Loneliness among Older Canadians.

In the media release the NIR stated:

Social isolation and loneliness are becoming increasingly recognized as significant public health concerns, particularly for older individuals, across Canada and around the world. With older persons making up a rapidly growing proportion of Canada’s population, the number of isolated or lonely older Canadians is expected to significantly increase, meaning that both the individual and societal consequences of loneliness and social isolation will likely also become more severe.

The report, Understanding the Factors Driving the Epidemic of Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Canadians, finds that as many as 41 per cent of Canadians aged 50 years and older are at risk of social isolation and up to 58 per cent have experienced loneliness before. To date, a lack of consistent definitions and measurement scales of loneliness and social isolation have made it challenging to fully characterize the scope of the problem in Canada, which could better enable measures to address it. Using data from the NIA’s inaugural 2022 Ageing in Canada Survey results, the report aims to fill this evidence gap by examining the extent to which both social isolation and loneliness are impacting Canadians aged 50 years and older across 10 provinces, and will continue to do so over the coming decade.

The report found that:

• 41% of Canadians aged 50 years and older are deemed as socially isolated. On the other hand, only 59% of Canadians aged 50 years and older appear to be somewhat well-connected or have strong social ties.
• 18% of Canadians aged 50 years and older are very lonely and another 40% are somewhat lonely. On the other hand, 42% of Canadians aged 50 years and older are not lonely.
• Less than a third (30%) of Canadians aged 80 years and older could be classified as socially isolated... compared to 45% of Canadians aged 50–64 years and 40% of Canadians aged 65–79 years.
  
• Among Canadians aged 80 years and older, 9% are very lonely and 38% are somewhat lonely, while 53% are not lonely.
• On the other hand, among Canadians aged 50-64 years, almost one in four (23%) are very lonely and another 41% are somewhat lonely while only 36% are not lonely.
• In terms of Canadians aged 65–79 years, 14% are very lonely and 39% are somewhat lonely, while 47% are not lonely.
• Overall, 63% of Canadian women aged 50 years and older report that they are either somewhat lonely or very lonely, while the share is 53% among Canadian men of the same age.
• Most concerningly, one in five (20%) Canadian women aged 50 years and older report that they are very lonely. Correspondingly, the share of Canadian men of the same age who are very lonely is 16%.
  

Clearly loneliness has become an epidemic in Canada. Loneliness and isolation are key issues for people who are considering death by euthanasia. When I have discussed the reasons why someone who is considering euthanasia or has already been approved for euthanasia, the discussion most often is about feelings of loneliness, isolation or hopelessness.

Sadly, the epidemic of loneliness is feeding the euthanasia mentality.

We need a society that recognizes the need for interdependence and places caring for others over killing.

More articles concerning loneliness:

• Loneliness is an epidemic with profound risks to health and life (Link). 
• Loneliness as a root cause for symptom distress among older adults (Link). 
• A wish to die is most often linked to loneliness and depression (Link). 
• Study uncovers euthanasia deaths based on loneliness in the Netherlands (Link).