CHAC is the coordinating body for communication, collaboration, education and other health related activities in La Plata County. We advocate for the prevention of disease and disability, healthy lifestyles and integrated health services that are accessible and affordable to everyone.
CHAC functions as an open, inclusive model, relying significantly on volunteers and partner organizations. All are welcome.
Loneliness has been identified as a public health issue, and is our current focus. The pandemic made loneliness even worse.
Some Facts About Social Isolation:
• Loneliness raises mortality risk by 26% and is as risky as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. It escalates the risk of coronary heart disease by 29% and stroke by 32%.
• On Maslow’s social hierarchy, “social belonging” is the third most important basic need coming after physiological and safety needs for survival.
• Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy stated, “During my years caring for patients, the most common pathology I saw was not heart disease or diabetes, it was loneliness.”
• Nationally, estimates suggest that social isolation equates to an additional $6.7 billion annually to health care costs.
• The United Kingdom has had a national “Campaign to End Loneliness” since 2011. Its 2017 report helped lead to the creation of a new cabinet position in 2018 called Minister for Loneliness.
Japan has a term, kodokushi, that describes older adults who die alone and whose death isn’t discovered for some time.
