Mental Help: Impacts of Loneliness & Social Isolation in Older Adults

May 25, 2021
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Facebook Live and C2ST YouTube TV

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Program Series:
Health and WellnessScience and Society

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Dr. Cynthia Boyd (John Hopkins), Dr. Tracy Lustig (The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), and Dr. Carla Perissinotto (UCSF) will overview the mental health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. These senior experts will also offer strategies from an individual to a population health level to mitigate the impacts.

Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely(43%). People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, losing family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments.

In offering the Mental Help series, C2ST is pleased to partner with research experts and practitioners to provide support to specific communities such as the elderly, families, and professionals.

Event Details

Tuesday, May 25th from 5:00-6:00 pm CT, C2ST Facebook Live & C2ST TV YouTube Live.

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Featured Guests

Cynthia Boyd, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University

Cynthia Boyd is a Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University, with her primary home in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. She is a practicing primary care physician and geriatrician at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and is a clinical researcher who has devoted her career to improving the health and health care of older adults. Her research has been funded by the National Institute on Aging, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and private foundations. Her research has focused on improving health and health care for older adults with multiple chronic conditions and dementia and their loved ones, through both observational and interventional research. Dr. Boyd served on the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Committee that led to the report titled “Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System.”

Tracy A. Lustig, DPM, MPH, Senior Program Officer, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Tracy Lustig is a senior program officer with the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Lustig was trained in podiatric medicine and surgery and spent several years in private practice. In 1999, she was awarded a congressional fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science and spent one year working in the office of Ron Wyden of the U.S. Senate. Dr. Lustig joined the Academies in 2004. She was the study director for consensus studies on the geriatrics workforce, oral health, ovarian cancer research, and the recently released report Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System. She has also directed workshops on the allied health workforce, the use of telehealth to serve rural populations, assistive technologies, and hearing loss. In 2009, she staffed an Academies-wide initiative on the “Grand Challenges of an Aging Society” and subsequently helped to launch the Forum on Aging, Disability, and Independence, which she currently directs. Dr. Lustig has a doctor of podiatric medicine degree from Temple University and a master of public health degree with a concentration in health policy from the George Washington University.

Carla Perissinotto, MD, MHS, Medical Director for UCSF Care at Home, and is an Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine

Carla Perissinotto is the Medical Director for UCSF Care at Home, and is an Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine. Dr. Perissinotto is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. Her main work is in UCSF Care at Home, which provides medical care to home bound older adults, and in embedded Geriatrics consult practices. From 2008-2017, Dr. Perissinotto spent a portion of her clinical time at the Over 60 Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center, serving adults over age 55 in Alameda County. At Over 60, Dr. Perissinotto directed the educational programs for UCSF learners, and focused on practice change by establishing a team-based model for community-based Geriatrics seeing adults across a continuum of care. Dr. Perissinotto gained national and international recognition for her research on the effects of loneliness on the health of older adults.