What does loneliness look like in our increasingly connected world—and what can we do about it?
Loneliness is increasingly recognized not just as a personal feeling, but a critical public health issue — one with real consequences for the wellbeing of individuals, communities, and entire social systems. So, why does loneliness feel so widespread in our hyper-connected age? And, how can we rebuild the relationships and communities we all need to thrive?
These questions were at the foundation of a UBC Connects at Robson Square event, presented on June 4, 2025. All the Lonely People: The Search for Belonging in an Uncertain World was a public conversation that brought together researchers, writers, and members of the community to explore how loneliness not only impacts but is derived from how we structure our lives, our neighbournoods, and our broader societies.
In this important conversation that featured Dr. Marina Adshade (UBC Vancouver School of Economics), Dr. John Oliffe (UBC School of Nursing), Dr. Carrie Jenkins (UBC Department of Philosophy), and Mandy Len Catron (UBC School of Creative Writing), and was moderated by Dr. Kiffer Card (SFU Faculty of Health Sciences), a key idea emerged: loneliness is not a struggle felt simply by the individual and for which the individual is solely responsible — it’s a collective challenge, with deep social and political roots and consequences for all of us.
Dr. Kiffer Card began the night highlighting how social isolation not only harms physical and mental health but weakens the trust and cohesion that holds a community together. Each speaker presented their core ideas related to loneliness, tracing how our ways of living have shifted over centuries, from tight-knit kin networks to modern, globalized capitalist economies and carefully curated digital lives.
Dr. Marina Adshade explained how these changes didn’t happen by accident — they were shaped by centuries of change and adaptation to technology, economic policy, and urban design that often pulled people away from the smaller networks of family and place-based community. Her message was clear: tackling loneliness takes more than personal effort — it requires political advocacy for policies that support place-based living, affordable housing, and neighbourhoods where people stay more deeply connected with a smaller network.
“We need to get out of our own way and allow ourselves to be the works of great art that we already are” – Dr. Carrie Jenkins
The discussion then turned to how capitalism shapes social connection, and the cultural pressure we all face to squeeze broad social relationships into the narrow confines of the nuclear family. Dr. Carrie Jenkins urged us to look beyond consumer-driven ideals of romance and happiness, and instead cultivate deeper, messier connections that are rooted in meaning. She reminds us that we need to become works of great art and allow others to really see us as we are — not just the tidy versions we carefully curate and monitor.
The event also explored how loneliness connects with other urgent issues, like climate change. Writer Mandy Len Catron described how strong local ties help communities to recover from disaster and build resilience in the face of uncertain futures. These local connections and interdependencies can be a life-saving force — and a source of hope. Becoming prepared for disaster is an act of relationship-building that pays dividends beyond emergency preparedness — it is a way of creating more resilient social infrastructure and the sense of shared responsibility we tend to lack during times of calm and certainty. She urged everyone to start engaging in their neighbourhoods now to cultivate relationships of dependency and preparedness before crisis and emergency make it a necessity.
Throughout the discussion, practical ideas emerged, too. Dr. John Oliffe spoke about the quiet crisis of men’s loneliness, and the difference that simple actions — asking open questions, listening without judgement, checking in — can make. Moreover, he suggested that efforts to support equity, diversity, and inclusion may just be the solutions to men’s loneliness and social isolation.
Again and again, the conversation returned to one hopeful truth: solutions to loneliness already exist — they are in the simplest daily actions like how we greet our neighbours; in the more formal processes of urban design and community planning; and, in the extraordinary moments, as we show up for each other when we need it most.
“Despite everything, the future can be a place we want to live in and a place we can build together.” — Mandy Len Catron
This event was broadcast by CBC Ideas on June 18, 2025. If you missed the event or want to revisit the conversation, you can listen to the full recording here.
More about the Speakers and Moderator
Mandy Len Catron
Lecturer
School of Creating Writing, UBC Faculty of Arts
Mandy Len Catron is the author of the critically-acclaimed essay collection How to Fall in Love with Anyone. The book was listed for the RBC Taylor Prize and the Kobo Emerging Writer Award. Her writing can be found in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Rumpus, Orion and The Walrus as well as other newspapers, literary journals, and anthologies. Her essays and talks have been translated into more than thirty languages. Mandy is a faculty member at the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia and she is currently working on a book about loneliness.
Dr. John Oliffe
Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Men’s Health Promotion
School of Nursing, UBC Faculty of Applied Science
Dr. John Oliffe is a Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Men’s Health Promotion at the School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, and a professor at the Department of Nursing, University of Melbourne. As the founder and lead investigator of UBC’s Men’s Health Research program, his qualitative work focuses on the influence of gendered health behaviors and illness management, and its impact on partners, families and overall life quality. He has expertise in wide-ranging qualitative methods, and the findings drawn from his research offers guidance to clinicians and researchers and have informed evaluated tailored interventions for men.
Dr. Carrie Jenkins
Professor
Department of Philosophy, UBC Faculty of Arts
Carrie Jenkins is a writer and philosophy professor based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Her first novel, Victoria Sees It (Strange Light/Penguin Random House), was shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Frye Academy Award. Her non-fiction books include What Love Is and What It Could Be (Basic Books) and Sad Love: Romance and the Search for Meaning (Polity).
Dr. Marina Adshade
Assistant Professor of Teaching
Vancouver School of Economics, UBC Faculty of Arts
Marina Adshade is a faculty member at the Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia. She is one of Canada’s foremost economics experts on the role of women in society and a major advocate for inclusive cultural reform, with the goal of increasing safety, competitiveness, and leadership.
Her unique approach to research applies a mix of economic, sociological, biological, and psychological theories and evidence to a wide range of social issues. She is a sought-after speaker, writer, and social commentator and has published over sixty opinion pieces and feature articles in the Wall Street Journal, Sunday Times (UK), Daily Mail (UK), Globe and Mail, Time Magazine, Psychology Today, the Daily Beast, and Buzzfeed.
Moderator
Dr. Kiffer Card
Assistant Professor, SFU Faculty of Health Sciences
President, Canadian Alliance for Social Connection and Health
Director of Research, The GenWell Project
Dr. Kiffer G. Card is an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. He received his training as a behavioural epidemiologist, social ecologist, and health services researcher from Brigham Young University (B.Sc.), Simon Fraser University (Ph.D.), and the University of Victoria (Post-doctoral Training). Dr. Card is the recipient of multiple highly prestigious awards, including The 2025 Blanche and Charlie Beckerman Public Health Innovation Scholar Award; The 2021 Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar Award, the 2020 CIHR-IHSPR Rising Star Award, The 2018 CTN Postdoctoral Award, The 2018 MSFHR Award, and The 2018 CIHR Health Systems Impact Fellowship. Over the past six years, Dr. Card’s research program provides training to future scholars and raises awareness of key social reforms and policies that aim to help Canadian leaders build happier and healthier communities.
Event Organizers
