According to a study published in March, one-third of American seniors feel lonely. The same study found that nearly 30 percent of seniors reported they socialized with family, friends, or neighbors once a week or less. Senior isolation is correlated not just to a decline in mental wellbeing but also physical wellbeing, with another study concluding that “Lonely people are 50 percent more likely to die prematurely than those with healthy social connections.”

Senior loneliness is a public health issue, which means it’s a political problem. Bernie Sanders is treating it like one, and proposing a political solution: create a new office within the Administration for Community Living to address social isolation among seniors.

With this move, Sanders is likely taking a cue from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in the UK, which has focused on the social isolation of pensioners. Corbyn has also politicized the issue, blaming austerity for the deterioration of seniors’ quality of life. “Millions of people suffer from chronic loneliness,” Corbyn has said. “Tory cuts to services have deprived them of the support they need.”