This semester, Project Life Together is conducting focus groups to study student needs, specifically with regards to loneliness and belonging. The project, which has been going on all school year, is a collaborative effort from faculty, staff and students.

Every Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. through May 1, undergraduate students could attend these sessions about isolation, loneliness, purpose and belonging. All attendees received a $20 Grubhub gift card.

According to Amy Badura Brack, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Creighton, “Project Life Together hopes that we will be able to target services and opportunities for those student populations who feel more lonely or experience less feelings of belonging than the majority of Creighton students.”

Brack was invited to join the project by the Rev. Christopher Krall, Ph.D., a professor of Theology at Creighton. She stated that she has been leading the survey portion of the project.

From her survey results, Brack reported that Creighton students generally feel less lonely than other university students throughout the United States. However, there are groups of students who are feeling higher levels of loneliness.

Brack shared her intended outcome for the project.

“I hope that this next phase of the project will help to reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness among Creighton students, improve their college experience and reduce psychological distress that is associated with loneliness,” Brack said.