The Role of Community Businesses and Organizations in the Loneliness Epidemic
Abstract:
The loneliness epidemic has been affecting a large number of individuals in the U.S., especially young adults, to the point of the U.S. General Surgeon announcing an advisory after the COVID pandemic occurred. Finding ways to fight the loneliness epidemic is essential to address this national public health problem and based on previous studies, community involvement can be the key. The involvement of community businesses and organizations is the focal point in this study, specifically cosmetologists, barbershops, churches, and youth groups, because these are known to be individuals and places that build trust, relationships, loyalty, and provide a sense of comfortability for people. Therefore, applying a community care methodology to businesses and organizations is the goal. Applying this methodology can help them understand the loneliness epidemic by becoming an expert in the aspects of loneliness and social connection, understand solutions to prevent and reverse social disconnection, and know how to engage the community. Now, the difficulty in this is determining the best strategies to reach these businesses and organizations in order to get them involved and ultimately apply this Community Care Methodology, which is what we want to determine in this study.
Keywords: loneliness, mental health, cosmetologists, barbershops, epidemic, community, church, youth groups
Background
Loneliness affects everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, and socioeconomic status and has increasingly affected a large portion of the population to the point that it has been declared an epidemic since spring 2023. This was announced as an advisory by the U.S. General Surgeon, especially after the COVID pandemic. More and more adults are becoming affected as only about 39% of the adult population note feeling connected to others, which shows a significant decline of social connection in the U.S. Suicide rates have increased, levels of sadness among teenagers have reached the highest reported record, and among the entire U.S. population, there has been significant social disconnection causing individuals to have feelings of loneliness leading to poor mental health. As a result, individuals are at a greater risk to develop dementia, depression, and anxiety.
Unfortunately, based on recent surveys, many of the adults affected are young, although older adults are still constantly impacted. There was an estimated $6.7 billion in excess spent on nursing and hospital facilities by Medicare to address the older adults being affected by social isolation. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected has been shown to be similar to individuals smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day and, unfortunately, loneliness can have negative effects on physical health. Poor or insufficient social connection has shown to increase the risk of developing a disease, which includes 32% increased risk of stroke and 29% increased risk of heart disease. Various aspects of individuals’ lives are noted to be affected, mentally, physically, and the workforce has shown to be impacted due to absenteeism, which was a result from stress that is attributed to loneliness, costing employers about $154 billion each year. Humans need social connection as this is considered essential to live similarly to water and food. Living a long, fulfilled life has been proven to be achieved through social connection as this can positively affect the health and social life of an individual. In order to achieve such a connection, there needs to be involvement among the communities as many connections are made through our daily lives such as school, church, workplaces, and public places.
Beauty salons, cosmetologists, and barbershops are some of the community businesses to be known for having the capability to build relationships with their clients and foster a social connection. This is usually a result from the amount of time spent with each client as usually clients spend hours at the salon depending on the service being done. During this time, the cosmetologists have the ability to get to know their client, create a connection and build trust, leading to strong relationships and sometimes leading to a friendship.
The thought process behind this is that clients feel their visits are therapeutic and the goal of a beauty salon is to empower an individual. This makes many individuals feel confident and their self-esteem becomes enhanced. Not only that, but there have been reports of many of the clients feeling relaxed and open to unloading a burden by talking about their life, especially discussing anything that’s going on. As a result, there have been reports that this has helped individuals lower stress levels, boost their self-esteem, and improve overall physical health.
Not only do they improve their well-being mentally and physically, but given that cosmetologists have a unique position of having the privilege to listen to clients about their lives, this allows an opportunity for education and understanding of resources that promote health. Many cosmetologists already make key observations on their clients associated with certain scalp and skin conditions leading many to follow up with a dermatologist for further evaluation. Maintaining healthy hair and obtaining proper treatment has been known to prevent hair loss according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association. This can be achieved through recommendations and education cosmetologists provide through certain hair products and scalp treatments in the salon. These are just a few ways that cosmetologists are able to provide health education to improve their physical health. Overall, cosmetologists and barbershops have the capability to further understand the loneliness epidemic that is affecting mental health among the population by understanding the resources available for mental health treatment such as therapy, encouraging social interaction, and community participation.
On the other hand, there are non-profit organizations among communities that can equally make an impact, especially those consisting of youth groups. Youth leadership has been known to make a significant impact as their leadership differs from older generations. Youth bring a new perspective, innovative ideas, and are willing to take more risks. There have been multiple youth leaders speaking on their involvement in the community and making a difference by not just leading, but ensuring they are inclusive. This includes fostering a sense of community, which would allow for individuals in the community to cultivate relationships, develop trust, and create an engaging environment. In previous studies, trust and actively engaging with the community was proven to be significant in order to successfully reach out to communities and allows for individuals to be open with community organizations, but also accept assistance and the implementation of new initiatives to improve their overall health. Therefore, non-profit organizations as well as local organizations such as youth groups and churches can be a trusting source for communities.
Fostering community involvement can help build trust among the population, especially through the help of local businesses such as beauty salons, barbershops, and community organizations. This would allow communities to connect and provide a place for the population to socially connect as well as reduce the feelings of loneliness.
Statement of Problem
The U.S. population's overall health will continue to decline if the loneliness epidemic goes unaddressed as this poses a threat to people’s mental and physical well-being. There have been findings from the 2022 Behavioral Factor Surveillance System that was taken from 26 U.S. states noting the significant impact loneliness and lack of social as well as emotional support has on an individual’s mental health, which is less prevalent among individuals who have social, emotional support, and do not report having feelings of loneliness. Previous studies show that individuals with certain demographic categories have a higher prevalence of being affected by the loneliness epidemic, such as individuals with low income, less than a high school education, and minority groups. Therefore, although the entire population is at risk, there are certain communities becoming more affected than others. Providing a form of education and ways for all communities is critical in combating the loneliness epidemic. In order to achieve this, the problem needs to be addressed by providing communities with a trusting, welcoming environment. A place where individuals feel open to discuss their emotions, but also a place that can provide education and awareness.
Addressing the problem with the assistance of cosmetologists, other community businesses, and non-profit organizations that consist of youth groups creates more possibilities for people to become aware and educated on the loneliness epidemic. This paves the way to recognize loneliness as a problem that is in fact a public health concern. With the help of community businesses such as beauty salons and barbershops and non-profit organizations such as youth groups, communities will have the capability to open up about their emotions such as loneliness and recognizing if they have social disconnections. As a result, there will be an increased accessibility on mental health resources because an understanding of how and where to access the necessary resources to address mental health, especially loneliness, will allow people to improve their health. This will not only allow improved health, but cosmetologists, other community businesses, and organizations will receive benefits by introducing the Community Care Methodology as people will feel more heard, inclined to visit their place of business and/or organization because there will be a more developed trusting relationship, and an increase in job satisfaction as a result of continuously having the capability to help their community.
However, in order for the businesses and organizations to be able to introduce such methodology, this needs to be introduced to them, which can be difficult to do as this requires costs. Therefore, we need to identify cost effective ways to inform cosmetologists, other community businesses, and organizations about new public health research on the loneliness epidemic and the method to combat this public health issue, and motivate them to participate in remote, low cost coaching required to add Community Care Methodology to their business.
Literature Review
The loneliness epidemic has been proven to be a rising problem affecting everyone despite their age, gender, race, and socioeconomic status, although more common among minority groups. Loneliness has been shown to not only affect one’s mental health, but has led to poor physical health, which can result in serious health consequences. Based on current literature and past studies, social isolation, the use of social media, and the aftermath of the COVID pandemic are just some of the factors contributing to the loneliness epidemic.
Social isolation has been proven to be connected with loneliness as both factors have been associated with the development of depression and anxiety. Individuals experiencing social isolation and loneliness have a greater chance to harm their health and based on decades of research, this can be as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and consuming about 6 alcoholic drinks a day.
FIGURE 4: Lacking social connection is as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Social connection is fundamental for humans as this is beneficial not just socially, but mentally and physically. A 50% increased likelihood of survival was shown among a group of individuals who had greater social connection, despite the risk factors among them such as diet, exercise, and health behaviors. This was a result taken from a meta-analysis of 148 studies. Data has also shown an individual’s stress response system has increased activation when social rejection occurs. Thus, social disconnection has been declared a public health risk factor that is not addressed enough.
The COVID pandemic alone has exacerbated the feelings of loneliness, social isolation, and other depressive symptoms, especially given preventive and control measures put in place, such as quarantine, workplace closures, and social distancing. Although these measures were meant to keep the public safe, they led to adverse psychological effects in the form of increased loneliness, anxiety, and despair. Due to the measures put in place during the pandemic, remote work increased causing social disconnection and isolation to heighten, thus opening the discussion to the impact this has had on mental health. Recent statistics have shown an annual mortality of 162,000 Americans is attributable to social isolation, which is higher than cancer or stroke. Over time, suicide rates have also continued to rise drastically to the point of affecting one American every five and a half minutes.
On top of remote work increasing, the form in which individuals communicate and connect has increasingly moved to social media to the point of becoming a norm in people’s daily lives. As a result, there are less connections being made in person. Even though social media has provided opportunities to develop and maintain social relationships, especially during the COVID pandemic, there are still studies proving that individuals who have high levels of social media use have poorer mental health. Furthermore, there are a variety of factors that can influence whether an individual who uses social media will have higher or lower levels of loneliness. The factors analyzed in past studies focused on the motives to identify why people use social media and if each motive decreases or increases loneliness. People who had motives for social media to decrease loneliness, for entertainment, to forget life’s complications, and/or to pass time demonstrated poorer mental health. With the increased social media usage, many are constantly viewing others’ lives, which is usually demonstrated as happy, joyful, and showing success.
Unfortunately, those who are constantly digesting others’ happiness through social media can increase their own feelings of loneliness. In this case, social media does not associate with improving loneliness, but instead exacerbates it, especially when social media is used negatively such as cyberbullying. Frequent social media use has been associated with a higher chance of being bullied online. Studies also showed that many social media users have consistent feelings of loneliness, sadness, hopelessness, and have even considered attempting suicide.
Now as mentioned previously, the use of community businesses and organizations is a strategy to fight the loneliness epidemic as most communities have built a level of trust with their local businesses and organizations that can help people feel more open to build social connections. This has been proven to be true through a number of studies, which includes businesses such as barbershops and beauty salons. These businesses are located among communities and interact with a diverse population placing them in a promising position in which they have the opportunity to promote health, but most importantly help address health disparities. Research studies have shown that cosmetologists have the capability to spread knowledge to increase awareness on health, lifestyle, and prevention. This can be successful if salons and barbershops have the proper education and awareness of health risks. Research also shows that local organizations have the capability to impact and strengthen communities as they are known to be pillars of support. In addition, they have developed trust and rapport because they take the time to understand the needs of the community. Because of this, organizations are usually welcomed. Therefore, salons, barbershops, and local organizations have the capability to be involved in health education, health promotion, interventions, and educational programs..
Hypothesis
Identifying key trends in outreach research to assist in the education and involvement of the loneliness epidemic can help develop outreach strategies to engage community businesses and organizations, which may provide cost effective ways to inform and motivate them to participate in remote, low cost coaching required to add the Community Care Methodology to their business and/or organization.
Methodology
This research implements a mixed methods approach in order to determine key trends that assists in the development of strategies to inform and engage community businesses and organizations in the fight against the loneliness epidemic.
Design
Primary data was collected using a mixed methods design, consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. First, by reaching out to community businesses and organizations using a variety of contact methods in order to obtain quantitative data. Then qualitative data will be collected via direct contact through personal connection by interviewing a business and organization to determine the best strategies to inform and engage them in the fight against the loneliness epidemic. Therefore, the methods of communication to obtain quantitative data includes the business and organization’s website contact system, Facebook messenger, and email. The method to collect qualitative data was interviews done on a business and an organization to obtain further details on their thoughts on their involvement to combat the loneliness epidemic as well as the best strategies to reach out to other similar businesses and/or organizations.
Sample
A convenience sampling technique was used in this study to choose our sample and collect our data because we needed to focus on businesses and organizations that were easily accessible, which meant each of them having at least one or more of the contact methods we were using to collect data. The sample we chose also needed to be a specific business and organization because we are looking for those who are in a unique position to become informed and engaged in the fight against the loneliness epidemic. In other words, their businesses and organizations need to have a good position among the community, such as being trusted and known. In this study, barbershops, salons, and businesses associated with cosmetologists were chosen as there is research proving their unique position to be trusted and heard by their community, specifically their clients. Organizations chosen had to be involved with the youth in the community as youth make up the largest of the population that suffer from loneliness. Therefore, churches and non-profit organizations focused on helping the youth were chosen. Due to the limited number of barbers, salons, cosmetologists, churches, and youth organizations, multiple cities in Illinois were chosen in order to obtain the largest sample possible as this would provide us with the best, accurate results for future studies. These cities included Naperville, Bolingbrook, Yorkville, Montgomery, Aurora, Oswego, St. Charles, Big Rock, and Plano. Among these cities, 46 community businesses were chosen and 31 organizations. Of the 46 community businesses, 12 were contacted using Facebook messenger, 20 were contacted through their website’s contact system, and 14 were contacted via email. One of the salons that was contacted through Facebook was also contacted in person through a personal connection. Of the 31 organizations, 14 were contacted via email, 16 were contacted through their organization’s website contact system, and 1 was in person through a personal connection. Each of the personal connection contacts was done in an interview style in order to obtain insight on best contact methods to other businesses and organizations, but also to determine what their point of view is on the idea to involve them to help fight the loneliness epidemic based on their current, unique position.
Results
After the community businesses were contacted, Facebook and email had the poorest result. All the contacts made through Facebook messenger didn't accept messages and others had automated messages. 9 of the 12 businesses contacted through Facebook did not accept messages and the 3 who responded sent an automatic message, which were the following “Thanks for messaging us.
We try to be as responsive as possible. We'll get back to you soon,” “Hello Wendy Facebook Messenger responses can take awhile for us. To reach us ASAP please call or text 630-478-5371,” and “Thank you for reaching out to us! We will try to reply to you as fast as possible! Due to delayed notifications we will no longer be scheduling appointments through this app.” After the automated messages, no further responses were received. As for email, no replies were received by any community business.
Out of the 20 businesses contacted through their website contact system, only 1 responded requesting further information, which was a barbershop, and the response was within a day of sending out a message through their contact system. No further contact was made once the barbershop was provided with further information.
A stylist at a salon was chosen to have a one-on-one interview because of a personal connection. This connection was made because the researcher personally goes to this individual for regular appointments. At one of the salon appointments, an interview was conducted to obtain insight on the stylist’s thoughts on helping fight the loneliness epidemic, but also to determine if there are any suggestions on how to best get into contact with other community businesses, specifically salons. The stylist agreed and was intrigued by the idea to have salons involved in the fight against the loneliness epidemic. She noted that stylists definitely have a unique position in which they do in fact get to know their clients very well, but also has felt that clients do become comfortable enough to be open in conversation, including personal ones. However, there is some difficulty in getting in touch with salons as they are indeed a business so availability is limited, which is why the interview was performed during an appointment. The cosmetologist could not provide me with the best methods of contact for other salons, aside from their own, which was using their contact system on their website or email since the salon owner does not come in person to be able to present the community care methodology to her. The stylist noted the website contact system or email would be the best form of communication to get in touch and provide information on the community care methodology.. Although after emailing the salon, there was no response. The interview with a personal connection at a community business, unfortunately, did not result in the development of key trends or outreach strategies, which was similar to previous email correspondence.
Of the 31 organizations contacted, the only method of communication that was effective was in person through a personal connection for one of the organizations, a church. There were no responses from the 14 organizations contacted via email nor the 16 contacted through their organization’s website contact system. The contact in person with the church, specifically with a youth group leader and church leader, provided feedback on better ways to present the community care methodology and the personal connection proved to be most effective. Since the church knew the individual presenting the methodology there was a sense of trust present, which allowed the leaders to be open with communication and engaged. The information consisted of an “Essential Facts Church leaders should know about the Loneliness Epidemic” sheet that contained quick facts about the loneliness epidemic, explained the church leaders role in the epidemic, and a description of the course being offered. Furthermore, the course would provide the church the capability to implement the community care methodology into their community. An infographic was provided along with the informative sheet to provide further insight on the loneliness epidemic and why Church leaders’ involvement can help fight against it. The church leader found the information intriguing and decided to present the information to the Church’s pastors. However, prior to this, the church leader had multiple questions such as “what exactly will the course be teaching,” “will the course be offered in English and Spanish,” “how much would the course cost,” “how long is the course and how many church leaders can attend,” and “will the course be in conjunction with the church’s views (e.g. bible verses and/or stories)?” After explaining the course further, the church leader provided feedback for future outreach strategies to other organizations. Since there were many questions and unsureness, the church leader suggested that a crash course be offered to provide further insight on what exactly the course would consist of along with answering questions that would be common, such as the questions she had herself. The crash course could be short such as a quick powerpoint that further explains what the church would be signing up for instead of just presenting a fact sheet. This would help build trust and confidence that the course would benefit the church, but also align with their beliefs.
As a result, in person communication to present the community care methodology to an organization proved to be the most significant and best communication method, although it needs to be a personal connection in order to have a trusted relationship that will leave the organization feeling comfortable to proceed with the course or at the very least learn more. This also assisted in communicating with other churches as well since the church felt comfortable enough to share the information within their organization, which consists of multiple other churches across IL.
This allowed the use of an outreach strategy that is cost effective.
Although the in person communication with an organization through a personal connection proved effective, this method was not as effective for a community business. The best method to communicate for a community business was using their website contact system, although only a response rate of 1 out of 20 (5%).
Analysis
The outcomes of this study provided insight on the response differences between an organization that is non-profit versus a business to an outreach that would help their community fight the loneliness epidemic. When comparing the two interviews, one with the organization, the church, and the stylist at a salon, there was a difference in the feedback and engagement. The church was more inclined to learn more and engaged in conversation. The church demonstrated an interest in helping the community as this is already a goal in their church. As for the stylist at the salon, there was some interest, but more so discussion on how to best reach the owner of the salon to provide the information on the community care methodology in order to involve them more. Therefore, the data suggest that although each interview was conducted on an individual that is now the leader/owner, in this case on a member of the church and an employee of the company, there is a difference in how much persuasion or decision making each one has that is dependent on whether the individual is from a business stand point versus a non-profit. The member of the church had more capability to learn more, engage in conversation, and present this to their leader, the Pastors, while the employee/stylist was only able to provide me with information on how to best contact the owner, but nothing further she can assist me with.
The results then might suggest that businesses are less likely to be responsive to outreach messages that are not business related because of the poor response rate despite us using their best contact methods based on their website, but more so may be due to the fact that businesses may have limited availability and time on their hands. In line with the hypothesis, identifying key trends can help determine the best methods of outreach for a business and an organization.
Conclusion
The loneliness epidemic continues to affect millions and the number continues to grow. This has become an epidemic and an advisory was announced by the U.S. General Surgeon. Loneliness not only affects millions of people’s lives mentally, but physically as well. Therefore, this study aims to determine ways businesses and organizations can become involved to help fight the loneliness epidemic, specifically by applying a Community Care Methodology to their business and/or organization’s plan. This would allow businesses and organizations to further engage with their community to grow their business and/or organization by learning the various aspects of loneliness and social disconnection as well as proven solutions to prevent and address it. In order to present this methodology to businesses and organizations in the community, the study aimed to determine the best outreach strategies.
Social media and the internet itself has been a trend for decades, but over the past several years has increased significantly. The majority of the population, especially young trends, have social media and are familiar with the use of the internet. This has become a form of communication not just within the United States, but globally, leading to social media and the internet becoming an important part in most people’s lives. Therefore, for that reason, the forms of communication chosen in this study were Facebook, the Website contact system, email, and in person for a more personalized experience. Based on these approaches, Facebook was expected to gain the most attention, followed by the Website contact system, and then in person communications since social media has been known to have higher engagement among the population in many ways, including communication and the spread of information. However, the study’s results did not match our expectations. Facebook messenger was not accepted or the response was automated so this communication was ineffective. The in person communication was most effective for organizations as we were able to have a personalized experience and receive the most valuable feedback, which resulted in the best outreach strategy. The Website contact system proved to be most effective for businesses.
As a result, the study determined that the outreach strategies used for businesses and organizations cannot always be the same. Businesses and organizations are different so outreach strategies should be chosen accordingly.
Recommendation
The current study focusing on outreach strategies by identifying key trends to fight the loneliness epidemic can be identified as one of the first that focuses on a community care methodology that businesses and organizations can apply to their plan. However, due to the small sample size taken and lack of details of each business and organization, the results should be analyzed carefully. The results could be re-examined by performing another study on a larger sample size to determine its accuracy.
Future research should consider having multiple individuals focusing on one study in order to expand the area of study, such an entire state, in order to obtain the largest sample possible for an accurate result. The individuals performing the study should also focus on the method that attracted the most attention, therefore, in person communication via a personal connection for organizations and the website contact system for community businesses. A final note to consider is creating and applying a crash course, which was suggested by the church in this study, to determine if this would help increase the response rate.
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