Interplay of genetics and loneliness
Interplay of genetics and loneliness
Aging population grows rapidly in the US
The Baby-Boomer generation will contribute to the highly growing geriatric population.
The oldest people in the group turned 65 in 2011. The aging of that generation, in combination with increases in longevity and other factors, will cause the share of the population age 65 or older to grow rapidly from 2010 to 2030. The share of elderly population will exceed 20% of the entire population by 2030.
Aging population distributes unevenly across the states
In 2016, more than half (54%) of persons age 65 and over lived in 10 states: California, Florida, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, and New Jersey. Georgia, Virginia, Arizona, Washington, Massachusetts, and Tennessee each had over 1 million people age 65 and over in 2016.
The growth of geriatric population also varied by state.
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Geriatric population's living arrangement pre-disposed them to loneliness
Over 28% of elderly population lives alone.
Elderly women are more likely to live alone than men as shown in the chart. Women also tend to have lower socio-economic status in the elderly stage. High rate of living alone elderly population and elderly women are high risk of social isolation and loneliness.
Geriatric population is at double risk of COVID-19 and social isolation
“Many groups of people may feel particularly vulnerable due to the lockdown [from] COVID-19." Highly impacted groups include "elderly people who live in nursing homes where visitation is limited, elderly or other people who live alone, people who are in immunocomprised states, and [those] who already had mental disorders.”
Michelle Riba, MD, from the department of psychiatry,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor