YMCA of Greater Boston Prioritizes Combatting Loneliness Among Older Adults

FriendshipWorks and the YMCA of Greater Boston are stepping up efforts to reduce isolation among older adults by connecting them with volunteers, fostering intergenerational activities, and engaging communities. Programs such as the YMCA's See You at the Y and year-round facility access are providing this essential means of connection.

In a recent Boston Herald editorial, David Shapiro, the chief executive officer of the YMCA of Greater Boston, and Kyle Robidoux, executive director of FriendshipWorks, frame the effort as a citywide movement with the potential to reach tens of thousands of families across neighborhoods like Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and Dorchester.

Ending isolation among older adults should be a Boston-wide mission and a public health priority, they said. They cite former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's 2023 advisory that links social isolation to heart disease, dementia, depression, and premature death.

Given Boston's expanding aging population — with 60-plus residents projected to reach 18.1% of the city's population by this year — the need for scalable, connection-based initiatives is critical.

Shapiro and Robidoux urge the Boston community to take simple actions to help in this effort. They include volunteering, checking in on neighbors, engaging with organizations that promote friendship and social inclusion, and reframing isolation as a preventable community issue.

Fostering social connections is not just charitable, according to Shapiro and Robidoux. It is a public health necessity and a social justice issue that can enable older adults to thrive and stay civically engaged.

"We believe Boston can continue to be a model city for healthy aging through intentional and thoughtful connection," they wrote, "a place where neighbors look out for and support one another, where community is part of our health and civic infrastructure, and where everyone, regardless of age, feels seen and valued."