Loneliness can be a problem for older people, especially when they’re in the hospital. Their children may have moved away. Spouses and friends may themselves be too frail to visit. So a California hospital is providing volunteer companions in the geriatric unit.

Loneliness is a legitimate medical issue. There are a number of studies linking loneliness and social isolation in old people to poorer health and earlier death, including one published earlier this month in JAMA Psychiatry associating loneliness, social isolation and brain changes typical in Alzheimer’s.  So the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica is studying the ways a companion keeps a patient more engaged, more energized, and more able to make speedier recoveries.

Read more at http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/21/500222611/hospital-companions-ease-isolation-for-older-patients