Bill > HR1305

This bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a national Working Group on Unifying Loneliness Research to develop standardized approaches for measuring and understanding loneliness and isolation. The working group will include senior representatives from multiple federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and others, as well as representatives from three states with the highest and lowest numbers of mental health care practitioners. The group's key goals include creating consistent definitions and measurement tools for loneliness and isolation that can be used across research, healthcare, and public awareness efforts. Specifically, the group will aim to develop standardized measurements that can capture nuanced data about social connections, help guide strategic planning to combat loneliness, and provide reliable measurement tools across different fields. The working group is required to submit a report to several congressional committees within one year of the bill's enactment and make the report publicly available online. The working group will meet at least three times during its research process, and its mandate will expire at the end of 2027. The bill defines loneliness as a subjective feeling of being isolated, and isolation as an objective lack of social relationships or limited social contact.

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https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1305/all-info