About Us

Our Vision

For all Los Angeles residents to have social connection opportunities. In partnership and collaboration to raise awareness, inform, educate, and inspire, and promote existing programs that take action to lessen the impact of social isolation and loneliness and advance social connections for all individuals across the lifespan, including at-risk populations and those with disabilities.

Our History

The Los Angeles Social Isolation and Loneliness Impact Coalition was founded by the Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF) in 2017 with the goal of creating a collaborative community effort to address the health and financial impacts of social isolation and loneliness in all populations. The coalition seeks to build on and promote existing community-wide efforts focused on addressing social isolation and loneliness while creating partnerships and sustainable social interventions that can be expanded nationally. The Coalition now includes a wide-ranging representation of over 50 organizations serving older adults and people of all ages in the non-profit, academic, and civic sectors. In just a short time, The Los Angeles Social Isolation and Loneliness Impact Coalition has successfully begun to address issues surrounding social isolation and loneliness within our own agencies and has accelerated the process of change throughout our community through education, collaborations and the sharing of best practices.

Our Goals

Inform and inspire members on the value and importance of addressing social isolation and loneliness –negative health impacts
Provide credible information and advice (implement strategic communication campaign to emphasize the importance of social inclusion initiatives) positive health & community outcomes
Advocate to have social inclusiveness integrated into all of our programming both local and state
Provide guidance and support to include equitable and diverse programming at all levels
Become a force multiplier—leverage coalition expertise, facilitate collaborations and partnerships
Establish a clear path to support L.A. County and City officials on the issues
Expand programs and opportunities
Promote existing programs
Participate in national research including a standardized measurement and evaluation tool for collecting credible metrics and to ensure impact and accountability

Advisory Board

Paul Cann, Officer of the British Empire | Co-Founder of the Campaign to End Loneliness (UK)

Paul Cann OBE looks at the definition of loneliness, the new focus for the government’s recent report on its loneliness strategy, and previews a new report on the lessons from lockdown.

Paul was CEO at Age UK Oxfordshire when he became one of the founding partners of the Campaign to End Loneliness, a national drive to tackle the issue of isolation in older age. He is now Chair of the Campaign to End Loneliness, which has recently merged with the What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

Dr. Scott Kaiser, Co-Founder and CEO at Determined Health | Director of Geriatric Cognitive Health, Pacific Neuroscience Institute (PNI)

Scott Kaiser, M.D., a board-certified family physician and geriatrician, is the Director of Geriatric Cognitive Health and provides specialty geriatric medical consultations at the Pacific Brain Health Center. Focused on the needs of older patients, he works with his colleagues to provide an integrated and holistic approach to their cognitive challenges. With this “whole person” approach, Dr. Kaiser works to connect patients and their families with a broad range of resources to support their overall health and well being.

Dr. Heather Schickendanz, Chairperson, Harbor-UCLA Department of Family Medicine | Professor, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA specializing in geriatric medicine

Heather Schickedanz, M.D. is a founder and Co-Chair of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC-DHS) Geriatrics Workgroup, Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine, and a Family Physician-Geriatrician primary care provider. In her current position, she oversees a large family health center and multiple service lines, including inpatient service, home based care, specialty-primary care, and full spectrum family care including perinatal, pediatric, adolescent, adult, behavioral, mental health and geriatric care.

Dr. Carla Perissinotto, Associate professor of medicine University of California san francisco

Carla M. Perissinotto, M.D., M.H.S. is a Professor in the Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and is board certified in internal medicine, geriatrics, and palliative medicine. She served as the associate chief for geriatrics clinical programs at UCSF from 2017 to 2021. In this role she oversaw and developed new clinical programs serving older adults across care settings. Dr. Perissinotto has gained national and international recognition for her research on the effects of loneliness on the health of older adults. Her research and advocacy has focused on integration of loneliness assessments in health care, and evaluation and implementation of community-based programs focused on ameliorating loneliness and isolation in adults.