DONT DISS CONNECTION
An Intersectional Issue & National Health Threat
This is a film about connection.
Through this documentary, we aim to tell the story of social connectedness which is an intersectional issue and national public health threat.
Dr. Ransome at Yale School of Public Health and filmmaker Josh Bibbey, developed this documentary through a series of interviews with a range of individuals from academia, health care, government, entrepreneurship, faith-based institutions, and other community organizations. The narratives shared are designed to highlight the varied ways through which social connectedness is defined across various populations in different geographies, and the creativity in the solutions that are proposed to address social disconnection and isolation-related health and social problems in the U.S.. The aim of this work is that in the long-term we achieve systematic-level changes that improve the lives of people both nationally and at the local community level.
Social Disconnection: A National Health Threat?
In today's fast-paced world, social connectedness has become a pressing national health threat. The number of people who report being socially isolated, disconnected from others or lonely every day is at the highest in decades. For instance, a Gallup poll from 2024 reported that 20% of Americans reported being lonely "a lot of the day."
The health impacts of social disconnection are well documented. A study that reviewed over 148 papers, estimated that the mortality risk associated with social disconnectedness is as comparable or higher than traditional risk factors such as smoking 15 cigarettes per day.
A few other notable statistics
Loneliness and social isolation can also increase the risk for premature death by 26% and 29% respectively.
Loneliness costs the U.S. economy an estimated $406 billion a year.
Objective isolation predicts greater spending, $1,644 per beneficiary annually
We know that statistics doesn’t tell the full story, that’s where our film picks up.
Across many of the interviews, we heard a common theme— the urgent need for us to cultivate and build meaningful connections. Doing so will help us to address several mental health challenges that we are experiencing in today’s world where anxiety and depression is at its zenith.
The Approach
This project examines social connectedness through various sectors, including academia, healthcare, education, policy, technology, spirituality and community. We aim to enhance understanding of how these elements interact and influence one another. By embracing the intersectionality of the issue, we are listening to communities and empowering voices. It is necessary to understand the fundamental causes and social determinants of health which are key to fostering genuine community engagement. Without ensuring food and housing security and quality healthcare, social connectedness is impossible.
ACADEMIA - How can we research and disseminate findings in ways that can be understood and actionable?
HEALTHCARE - How do we shift from a treatment culture to preventitive mindset that is inclusive to social connectedness?
EDUCATION - How do we teach and foster healthy practices of social connection to future generations?
POLICY - How can we prioritize funding effective community infrastructure?
SPIRITUALITY - How can we connect with others through nature and recognize shared humanity?
COMMUNITY - How can advocate for healthy community spaces?
TECHNOLOGY - How can we create responsible design of technology?
Through investigative storytelling, we illustrate how fulfilling basic needs can create a ripple effect, empowering individuals to connect and engage on deeper levels. Our story shows how different types of institutions and communities approach solutions, enact change and connect communities.
Those who learn to value community do not leave community behind.
Here are two important defintions to explain why we view social connectedness as an intersectional issue
Intersectional:
Relating to the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to an individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH):
The non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.
Meet Our Team
Starting from a unplanned meeting in a coffee shop in New Haven, here is the team that has been behind DONTDISSCONNECTION
How it began...
This film's story begins in community space.
Dr. Yusuf Ransome enters the plant adorned coffee shop.
Josh welcomes, inquisitive and caring.
Active listening and a lavender latte.
An hour passed as the seed was planted.
Josh grew interested in community systems and Yusuf shared his vast knowledge encompassing Public Health.
We would bring academia to creative media.
Disseminated to the people.
