The Italian daily Avvenire has published an article by Maria Gomiero on loneliness as a social problem, built around LONELY-EU. It describes the project as a mix of social psychology and predictive artificial intelligence tools, and it highlights the role of the PsyLab research centre at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.
PsyLab director Patrizia Catellani sets out the project’s aims. The team wants to understand what causes loneliness and how it affects communities, and then propose solutions to policymakers. The work starts from data already collected in the 27 EU countries. Catellani explains that many factors feed loneliness, among them economic inequality, age, gender, and health, and that the team is studying how these connect. She adds that lonely people tend to trust institutions less and are less likely to vote.
The article also covers young people, remote work, and social media, which the team studies without demonising it. The longer-term goal is a network against loneliness built with third-sector organisations and public institutions. The article is in Italian.
