Loneliness is becoming more common, and it’s making us sick. But why? Professor Melody Ding studies loneliness from a public health perspective, and she wants us to design communities where everyone has access to a flourishing social life.

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There have never been more people living on the planet than now. And yet loneliness has become a major health concern worldwide – it’s serious enough that the World Health Organisation has declared it a public health concern.

Professor Melody Ding examines loneliness and social isolation – how they differ, and how they overlap. While everyone’s experience is unique, the way we organise our communities can and does contribute to these problems. This means improvements, too, are within our reach.

Melody Ding explains the differences between loneliness and social isolation, examines causes, and looks at what systemic changes we can make to improve connectedness.

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The Solutionists

This episode was produced by Liam Riordan with sound design by Jeremy Wilmot. Supervising producer is Andrea Ho. Executive editors are Kellie Riordan, Jen Peterson-Ward, and Mark Scott. Strategist is Ann Chesterman. Thanks to the technical staff at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Media Room.

This podcast was recorded on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. For thousands of years, across innumerable generations, knowledge has been taught, shared, and exchanged here. We pay respect to elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

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