Why Loneliness Can Shorten Your Life (and How to Build a Social Health Plan) - Ken Stern

Loneliness isn’t just uncomfortable - it’s costly. And the scariest part? Most of us are living it without calling it what it is.

Dr. Jody talks with Ken Stern (*Healthy to 100*, *Century Lives*) about the loneliness epidemic and the link between social isolation and mortality risk - plus the practical shift that changes everything: building your social life with the same intention you’d bring to nutrition or exercise.

They get into what “lonely” actually looks like in real life, why we’re spending less time with friends than we did a generation ago, and how proximity, community design, and technology have quietly pulled us apart.

This is a call back to connection - with a plan, not just a wish.

Links & Resources:

• ABOUT CENTURY LIVES The Longevity Project: https://www.longevity-project.com/centurylives
• Healthy to 100: Secrets from Countries Where Retirees Age Best: https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/happy-retirement/healthy-to-100-secrets-from-countries-where-retirees-age-best
• Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review (PLoS Medicine, 2010): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2910600/
• Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon Generals Advisory (May 3, 2023): https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf

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