[News] The reality of loneliness among Canada’s elderly. Why is it getting worse?

As Canada grapples with a rapidly aging demographic, experts are sounding the alarm on the increasing mental and physical health impacts of loneliness and social isolation, particularly among older people who make up a growing proportion of the population.

A report by the National Institute of Ageing (NIA) released Tuesday found that around 41 per cent of Canadians aged 50 years and older are at risk of social isolation and up to 58 per cent in that age group have experienced loneliness.

And this can have both mental and physical consequences.

"Social isolation and loneliness are as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day," Jacques Lee, a Toronto-based emergency physician, told Global News.

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