On Tuesday 10th September Open Support hosted a Social Isolation and Loneliness Breakfast Forum event for stakeholders across the sector, at St Vincent’s Clinic. Attendees included hospital representatives, referrers, and industry specialists.
Social isolation and loneliness can be a killer. The WHO Commission research tells us that 1 in 4 Australians experience persistent loneliness, which can lead to depression, social anxiety and even death. This has ramifications for employers, families, health and social services and communities. The event delivered an opportunity for collaboration, networking and sharing of ideas from experts in the field, all focused on reducing the impacts of loneliness and social isolation on individuals.
Did you know Open Support’s Community Connection Program provides free services to people experiencing social isolation and loneliness and supports them to build confidence and pathways for building connections in their communities?
Dr Daniel Surkalim, Charlotte Jameson and Fiona Doyle, panel experts at Open Support breakfast forum.
The Breakfast Forum included a keynote presentation from Daniel Surkalim, from the WHO Commission for Ending Loneliness, a presentation by Charlotte Jameson, the founder of Project Reconnect, and Q&A panel with frontline mental health service providers.
The feedback post event was overwhelmingly positive, with Matt Kearney, Executive Director Mission & Health Equity, St Vincent’s Public Hospital, stating,
” It was a great opportunity to meet people from other services and hear top quality speakers. It was also great to see Open Support contributing to the conversation that builds a solid basis for addressing loneliness. As loneliness can often be seen as down the list of priorities of social issues, I was impressed that Open Support is giving this an important spotlight with some intellectual rigor.”