Culture and Health - Loneliness and social inclusion

The sixth lecture of the 2025 Culture and Health course – Doctors and Social Prescribing. Healing through sport, nature, culture and volunteering – will take place on Monday, November 17, from 6:00 to 7:45 p.m., at the Aula Polivalente, East Campus, Lugano.

Loneliness can be defined as a subjective sensation of anguish, connected with the perception that our social needs are not satisfied, particularly in terms of the quality of our relationships. Social isolation and loneliness are increasingly being viewed not just as social problems but as medical issues, as over 100 systematic reviews have found.
Reflecting on the health and social implications of these conditions will be Julianne Holt-Lunstadt, professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Brigham Young University (USA), one of the world’s leading experts on the topic. Her talk will be centred around the need to make social relations one of the priorities of public healthcare. The discussant will be Cristiano Figueiredo, family doctor, who is a trainer at the National School of Public Health of Lisbon and an activist for the promotion of social inclusion via social prescribing.

Full programme: www.culturaesalute.ch – IBSA Foundation