Why Are Cafés So Great? - Public Health Innovation and the Epidemic of Loneliness

Loneliness is an epidemic sweeping through our society, and rapidly showing its effects in families. Be Strong Families response to that is… Parent Cafés. The multi-faceted benefits of Cafés are not only as a resource support group, but as a tool for public health innovation. Thus enters the fourth edition of Why Are Cafés So Great!

Please see the link to the US Surgeon General’s Report on Our Epidemic of Loneliness: The Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community It’s a great read and a comprehensive scientific study of the impact of social isolation on public health. In the introduction, Dr. Vivek Murthy writes:

“In recent years, about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic cut off so many of us from friends, loved ones, and support systems, exacerbating loneliness and isolation.

Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity. And the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations, where performance, productivity, and engagement are diminished.  

Given the profound consequences of loneliness and isolation, we have an opportunity, and an obligation, to make the same investments in addressing social connection that we have made in addressing tobacco use, obesity, and the addiction crisis. This Surgeon General’s Advisory shows us how to build more connected lives and a more connected society.  

If we fail to do so, we will pay an ever-increasing price in the form of our individual and collective health and well-being. And we will continue to splinter and divide until we can no longer stand as a community or a country. Instead of coming together to take on the great challenges before us, we will further retreat to our corners—angry, sick, and alone. … 

Loneliness and isolation represent profound threats to our health and well-being. But we have the power to respond. By taking small steps every day to strengthen our relationships, and by supporting community efforts to rebuild social connections, we can rise to meet this moment together. We can build lives and communities that are healthier and happier. And we can ensure our country and the world are better poised than ever to take on the challenges that lay ahead.” 

While the Surgeon General does not directly address the correlation between social isolation and child abuse, we know it is there.  More stress, worse physical and mental health, lack of support / access to services, and substance abuse — which travel with loneliness and social isolation — all contribute to family dysfunction, including child abuse and neglect. Preventing child abuse and neglect is the tip of the iceberg. 

Enter Cafés – Cafés are intentionally structured to encourage and build positive social connections (one of the Strengthening Families Protective Factors). When they are held regularly, they foster community-building across cultural and economic differences. (More on that in a future missive.)  

They get parents more strongly connected to themselves (their core, their values, their dreams), their children, and other people (positive social connections / social and emotional support network).  

Cafés — and other Be Strong Families offerings — are all about contributing to reweaving the fabric of society. The process of participating in a Café intentionally but subtly builds the social and emotional skills necessary to initiate and sustain positive relationships. The focus of every Café is on mobilizing community to encourage and support each parent to build their family’s strengths, connect better with other adult family members, enhance their loving relationship with each of their children, and cultivate calmness and peace. Cafés and our Living the Protective Factors workshops contribute to strong families, strong communities, and a strong society.  

Stay strong and well!