Decades of research have shown that social isolation and loneliness can be as dangerous to your health as smoking or obesity. On the next edition of Aging Matters, we will explore how growing older can be an isolating experience and the difference between being isolated and feeling isolated or lonely. We’ll also look at innovative ways to create communities that prevent isolation and social withdrawal as we age. Aging Matters: Loneliness & Isolation, the eleventh documentary in Nashville Public Television’s NPT Reports: Aging Matters series, premieres Thursday, May 31, at 8 p.m. on NPT. The documentary will be followed at 8:30 p.m. by a panel discussion with Gretchen Funk of FiftyForward, Brent Elrod of Urban Housing Solutions and Andrea Prince of Catholic Charities, who will discuss local resources for addressing the issue.
A free preview screening of the documentary will be offered 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30, at FiftyForward’s Patricia Hart Building (174 Rains Ave., Nashville 37203). The event will include lunch and a panel discussion featuring Eugene Prichard Chambers Jr., M.D., senior medical director at Cigna-HealthSpring; and Elnora Terry, a FiftyForward foster grandparent; with moderator Robin Johnson, FiftyForward’s director of volunteer engagement. The event is free, but RSVPs are required at preview-npt.eventbrite.com.
Aging Matters: Loneliness & Isolation was produced by LaTonya Turner, whose Aging Matters Nutrition & Aging premiered last fall. Turner has also worked on NPT’s Town Halls and American Graduate series.
The NPT Reports: Aging Matters series is hosted by Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Kathy Mattea. Aging Matters: Loneliness & Isolation is made possible by the generous support of the West End Home Foundation, the Jeanette Travis Foundation, The HCA Foundation and Cigna-HealthSpring. Additional support was provided by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and Jackson National Life Insurance Company.
Additional broadcast times for Aging Matters: Loneliness & Isolation are below; the documentary will also be available for online viewing at wnpt.org/agingmatters/.
- Monday, June 4, at 8 a.m. on NPT2
- Tuesday, June 5, at 1 p.m. on NPT2
- Tuesday, June 12, at 5 p.m. on NPT
Find our complete broadcast schedule at wnpt.org/schedule.