To amplify learning around social isolation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Global Ideas for U.S. Solutions team invested in six projects that reached diverse places and people as well as a learning network coordinated by Healthy Places by Design.

This Learning Network and their report, Socially Connected Communities: Solutions to Social Isolation, brings a much needed perspective to the national conversation, and provides philanthropy and local leaders ideas for actions which could dramatically improve social well-being.

The six projects supported by RWJF include vulnerable families in West Baltimore, MD; isolated rural youth in Matanuska Susitna Borough of AK; incarcerated people in CT, MA, and NJ; Latinx LGBTQ youth in OR; and people living in three American cities with harsh winter climates.

Along with concrete recommendations, the report also displays some community-level examples and emphasizes how every sector has a stake in bringing solutions to social isolation. The report can be a great tool for age- and dementia friendly communities looking to promote social connectedness.