Loneliness has been linked to a host of health issues, including heart disease, cancer, and respiratory depression.
Now a Canadian company is hoping to change that with an app it's calling "OOt Social Health," Mashable reports.
"Through engaging with hundreds of executives, community leaders, and end users, we've discovered that proximity, skills, and interests are the key to enhancing the human experience and breaking down barriers to belongingthe key to solving loneliness," Thyagi DeLanerolle, CEO of OOt Social Health, says in a press release.
The app, which is currently in public beta, aims to do just that by allowing users to connect with others with similar interests and skills, as well as with organizations that share similar goals and values.
"Research shows that loneliness has the same effect as 15 cigarettes a day in terms of health outcomes and health care costs," DeLanerolle says.
"Through OOt, we've discovered that proximity, skills, and interests are the key to enhancing the human experience and breaking down barriers to belongingthe key to solving loneliness."
So far, the app is only available to members of the general public, but it's expected to be released to the general public in the near future.
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Caroline Diehl is a serial social entrepreneur in the impact media space. She is Executive Chair and Founder of the UK’s only charitable and co-operatively owned national broadcast television channel Together TV, the leading broadcaster for social change runs a national TV channel in the UK and digital platform which helps people find inspiration to do good in their lives and communities.