In this episode of the Glowing Older podcast, host Nancy Griffin interviews Lauren Dunning, Director of the Milken Institute Future of Aging. They discuss the importance of intergenerational connections, the role of the Milken Institute in promoting healthy aging, and the challenges of financial security and loneliness among older adults. Lauren shares insights from recent studies and reports, emphasizing the importance of community engagement and innovative solutions for aging well.

About Laura

Lauren Dunning is a Director for the Milken Institute Future of Aging, where she develops initiatives and strategic partnerships that advance healthy longevity and financial security across the life course. In her role, Dunning leads work on integrated care solutions leveraging technology and oversees the Future of Aging Advisory Board, a group of global leaders from across sectors who provide advisement,expertise, and collaboration to maximize collective impact.

Before joining the Milken Institute, Dunning served in key policy leadership roles for over 10 years at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, where she was most recently the director of government affairs, working with officials at all levels to shape public health policy. She has written and presented on a variety of topics across public health, aging, and health care; held an appointment as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center; and serves in an advisory capacity to several organizations, including LeadingAge California and theAtria Research Institute.

Dunning earned a JD from Georgetown University LawCenter, a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University. She works at the Milken Institute’s Santa Monica office. 

Key Takeaways

• The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank with offices in the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East that collaborates across business, philanthropy, government, nonprofit and academia.
• The two domains of social connectedness are socialisolation, which is objectively having few relationships and infrequent social interaction and loneliness, which is the state of perceived isolation or inadequatesocial connections.
• Loneliness is a significant health risk, comparable tosmoking fifteen cigarettes a day and associated with increased risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, anxiety, and depression.
• In a 2023 Gallup study of 142 countries, younger adultsreported greater loneliness levels than adults over 65. The rates of loneliness were 10% higher among people 19 to 29 (27 % reporting they were fairly lonely)than for older adults over 65 (17%).
• Children that participate in mentoring programs with older adults improved their physical and mental health and educational status. Civic engagement among college students increases when paired with older volunteers.
• Intergenerational relationships benefit both younger and older generations by reducing ageism and age discrimination, bridging differences, and identifying shared values.
• Eight in 10 older adults would like to connect across generations and 92 % of Americans believe intergenerational activities can help reduceloneliness across all ages.