Podcast: How a Medical Student Is Tackling the Loneliness Epidemic
Harsh Moolani founded a non-profit to help older adults stay connected to their communities.
“People who have done so much and given to their community for so long…why are they lonely at the end of their lives?”
It’s a question that Harsh Moolani, now a third-year M.D/M.P.H. student at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, grappled with when volunteering at local hospices. Industry practices didn’t seem to be creating long-term solutions for patients, so, as a junior in college, he developed one himself.
Moolani joined Inside U Miami Medicine to discuss how he founded Create Circles, a nonprofit that tackles some of the biggest challenges for adult populations, like loneliness, cognitive decay and lack of purpose. Moolani, now a dual-degree medical student, recently received a $495K grant from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to advance the organization’s mission.
“I learned how much these patients still wanted to be part of their community,” said Moolani. “The problem for many of them was that the family and friends around them had begun to disconnect.”
Tune in to hear about his journey to medicine and how he balances his Miller School coursework with running a national organization, advancing policy changes and building a full-time team.
“A lot of my best ideas came from whenever I was talking to patients,” said Moolani. “That’s my motivation.”
Find the episode on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Tags: aging, cognitive decline, Inside U Miami Medicine podcast, loneliness, medical education