About
About Loneliness Awareness Week
Loneliness Awareness Week is a week when GenWell, Canada’s Human Connection Movement, wants to inspire all Canadians to be more conscious of the growing issue of social isolation, disconnection, and loneliness experienced by seniors.
"Social isolation and low social participation are linked to higher mortality rates, with low participators being more likely to die earlier than those who participate regularly in social activities​."
Statistics Canada

Who is Behind Loneliness Awareness Week?
GenWell a registered Canadian NFP since 2016, is Canada's Human Connection Movement whose mission is to make the world a happier and healthier place by educating, empowering, and catalyzing Canadians around the importance of proactive face-to-face social connection as a proactive step we can all take for our health, happiness, longevity, and the betterment of society.
​
​Loneliness Awareness Week is one of six annual campaigns by GenWell, designed to encourage Canadians to connect face-to-face, focusing on populations that experience higher rates of disconnection, times of year when people can struggle and connections that can support our social health. By mobilizing everyone simultaneously, we make it easier for those who may struggle to reach out and foster a greater sense of connection and health.
"It’s really a very demoralizing thing to be locked in
and to be alone.
If it weren’t for my dog, I probably wouldn’t leave my house."
Canadian Senior sharing her personal experience of feeling isolated during the pandemic.
Our aim for Loneliness Awareness Week
With the focus of Loneliness Awareness Week being seniors, the goal is to get all Canadians to think about taking one of the following actions to get seniors connected.
​
1) Say hello to a senior at the coffee shop, in a lineup at a store, up the street, in an elevator or any place where a senior will safe to connect.
2) Take a senior that you know for a coffee or meal.
3) Take a senior for a walk outside in nature, around the block or in the garden.
4) Participate in the shared experience of a hobby or activity that a senior would enjoy doing with you.
Although our goal is to get seniors connected face-to-face during Loneliness Awareness Week, we certainly encourage people to use digital technology or the telephone to make connections if the time or geography makes in person impossible.
