Despite all the Zoom parties and virtual hangouts that marked the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, Black, Latino, and lower-income couples’ social networks shrank more significantly than those of their more affluent or white peers during that time, according to a new study from researchers at UCLA and the Rand Corporation, a nonpartisan policy think tank.
In the early stages of the pandemic, white wives had about three more people in their face-to-face social networks than Black wives, though that number fell to just over one more person by 18 months into the pandemic, per the study, which is one of the first to analyze the loss of social connections among certain demographics who also experienced higher Covid case rates.
“Limiting social interactions may well have reduced the spread of infection, but this policy also had unexamined and potentially lasting social costs,” lead study author Benjamin Haggerty said in a statement.
As part of the study, UCLA researchers looked at 431 mixed-gender couples “living in neighborhoods with a high proportion of low-income residents in Los Angeles County,” and interviewed each spouse on the number of family, friends, and coworkers they had regularly interacted with before and during the first 18 months of the pandemic. The study concluded in March 2022.
White spouses reported smaller declines and higher recovery in their social network size compared to Black and Latino spouses. Spouses with higher incomes also saw higher recovery rates in the size of their in-person social networks, the study found. Across groups, “18 months after the onset of the pandemic, the average face-to-face interactive network size remained down by 40% for husbands and 36% for wives compared with pre-pandemic levels,” according to the study.
Navigate the healthcare industry
Healthcare Brew covers pharmaceutical developments, health startups, the latest tech, and how it impacts hospitals and providers to keep administrators and providers informed.
The findings suggest that “social distancing might have been an insufficient strategy for preventing the virus in [Black, Latino, and lower-income] groups and highlights the need to examine unique mechanisms of transmission in different populations,” the researchers wrote.
The study also suggests that public health leaders should consider policies that limit disease transmission without reducing social interactions—such as “facilitating access to virtual technologies for vulnerable populations, creating safer public transport systems, public spaces, and working conditions, and promoting the use of masking.”
Social isolation and loneliness can increase the risk for physical ailments, such as heart disease, as well as mental illnesses like depression, the New York Times reported. In older adults, a lack of social contacts is considered a social determinant of health and was associated with an additional $6.7 billion in Medicare spending each year, a 2017 study from nonprofit AARP found.
Tackling this “loneliness epidemic” is a priority for Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Insurers can help by providing adequate reimbursement for time spent addressing concerns related to social isolation, according to an advisory from the Office of the Surgeon General.
And health systems can assess patients’ levels of social connection to determine if they need additional support, and include those findings in the patients’ electronic health records.