Alissa
Laham,
OTD, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Thomas Jefferson University
Alissa Laham is a recent graduate of the entry-level Doctorate of Occupational Therapy program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Alissa completed her doctoral capstone research at the Jefferson Center for Healthy Aging, a geriatric ambulatory clinic, in which she focused her research on reducing loneliness in older adults.
Presenting at the Nexus Summit:
BackgroundLoneliness is a prevalent health problem worldwide, and strongly associated with detrimental outcomes including premature mortality, functional impairments, re-hospitalization, depression, cognitive decline, and dementia. For many older adults, primary care providers are their only point of social contact, and therefore in a vital position to initiate services to address loneliness; however, loneliness is underassessed and undertreated due to appointment time constraints. The Liberating Loneliness program was created to fill this gap by providing an evidence-informed and client-…