Medical practitioners have long been troubled by a debilitating sequence of events which commonly occurs when patients fall sick. The illness causes fatigue. Fatigue affects mobility with an accompanying decline in both the energy and motivation to leave the house. Such inertia leads to social isolation and, with it, a diminishing sense of self-worth. Loneliness has become so loud a murmur at the heart of our failing communities that the English government has found it necessary to appoint a Minister for Loneliness. It figures among the causes of long waiting lists for appointments with a doctor, and too often it creates critical conditions which result in emergency admission to hospital. Research has also shown that chronic loneliness increases the risk of early death by 20%. Conversely, accumulated evidence shows that good social relationships have a greater effect on extending length of life than do such measures as giving up smoking or drinking, maintaining a healthy diet, taking regular exercise, weight loss, or the treatment of high blood pressure.

This is a book with stories to tell - the stories of how, by harnessing the power of compassion in the lives of real men and women, the small English town of Frome has opened up a new approach to the practice of medicine which has directly improved individual health and welfare while at the same time enhancing the vitality of the whole community. If the secret behind that remedy could be delivered in tablet form it would be hailed as a wonder of modern medicine. Less expensively, it is a resource which is freely available everywhere if we choose to liberate it. How that was done in Frome, and how the town's remarkable achievement carries vital implications for the ways in which we live our lives, is the inspirational story told in The Compassion Project.