Beyond Clinical Risk: Tackling Loneliness Through a Population Health Lens

Ananda Zeas-Sigüenza¹Pablo Ruisoto^1*Kami Koldewyn²Ferran Muntané³Joan Benach^3*

• ¹Department of Health Sciences, Public University of Navarra, Pamplona, Navarre, Spain
• ²School of Psychology and Sport Science, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, United Kingdom
• ³Public Policy Center, Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Loneliness is a distressing emotional state that arises from unmet social needs, particularly the quality-rather than merely the quantity-of social connections. While it serves an adaptive function by signaling social disconnection and motivating reconnection, chronic loneliness is a wellestablished risk factor for adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Recognizing its growing prevalence and health burden, the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified loneliness as a public health priority. To date, most research and interventions have focused on high-risk individuals, mainly within clinical populations, often addressing loneliness only after it becomes severe and entrenched. This paper argues for a paradigm shift toward population-level interventions that targets the broader social and environmental determinants of loneliness. Specifically, we propose a loneliness spectrum model and a systemic intervention framework that targets structural determinants, positioning loneliness prevention as a fundamental public health strategy positioning loneliness prevention as a fundamental public health strategy through nature-based and communitydriven interventions.