Going to the doctor may never be a fun experience, but surely it can be better than it is right now. In 2019, even before the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the foundations of health care, an Ipsos survey found that 43% of Americans were unsatisfied with their medical system, far more than the 22% of people in the U.K. and 26% of people in Canada. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s wrong.

  • Doctors are increasingly worried about loneliness.
  • Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon-general of the United States, called loneliness an epidemic, likening its impact on health to obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes per day.
  • A study found that in America people always or often feel lonely.
  • A study published in 2010 using this scale estimated that 35% of Americans over 45 were lonely.