Loneliness refers to the feeling an individual perceives that the quality or quantity of social relationships they have is less than what they desire, and Social Isolation is an objective measure of the number of friends, family, or other social connections that an individual has and the frequency of contact they have with these social connections. Isolation and loneliness can have significant impacts on mental and physical health, and research has shown that social isolation poses more significant health risk than smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise.