BURLINGTON, Vt.—Courtney Thorn, health educator at Elderly Services Inc., and Middlebury College senior Claire Perry collaborated on a poster presentation at the fourth annual Health Equity Summit on October 23. They presented the preliminary results of a “Loneliness Survey” conducted at ESI’s Project Independence, which showed a statistically significant relationship between attendance at Project and a decrease in loneliness.

The presentation at the University of Vermont’s Dudley H. Davis Center was titled, “Assessing the Power of Adult Day Programs to Alleviate Loneliness in Older Adults.” Claire Perry worked with Elderly Services as a fellow for the New Perennials at Middlebury College, a community outreach initiative that pairs students with local organizations for experiential learning. Courtney is also planning to present the study’s findings at a national conference, On Aging 2026, in April in Atlanta.

The Health Equity Summit, sponsored by UVM, is designed to bring together health care professionals, community leaders, researchers, educators, advocates, and change-makers in pursuit of a more just and equitable future.

For more on the Summit: https://www.uvmhealth.org/classes-and-support-groups/2025-health-equity-summit

And below (in PDF format) is a story by Claire from a recent ESI newsletter about the findings of the Loneliness Survey.