Loneliness in primary care patients-from understanding the risk to actionable clinical priority

As shown by a growing body of research including the work by Riegler et al and Hamovitch et al in this issue, loneliness is not ancillary to health but foundational. Family physicians cannot treat loneliness in isolation; however, they can build on the specialty’s strengths with relationship-centered to care to identify it and advocate for systems that support connection. Pragmatic primary care–based research can further demonstrate effective, implementable models that enable family physicians to work in teams and in partnership with community organizations to address the loneliness epidemic as a shared clinical and societal responsibility. In doing so, family medicine has the opportunity to reaffirm its relational and continuity-focused foundations while improving patient health outcomes and well-being.