Public Phone Pops Up In Brookline To Connect People With Seniors For Social Experiment: Report

BROOKLINE, MA — A device has been placed near the Boston University campus as part of a social experiment in which its students are being encouraged to communicate with their elders, according to a report from Boston.com.

An old-school style pay phone that reads “call a boomer” outside the Pavement Coffeehouse on Commonwealth Avenue is asking interested passersby to do what its name suggests. On the other end of the line are senior residents of Sierra Manor in Reno, Nevada. Calls can be made for free by either side and if no one picks up, leaving voicemails are encouraged. The phones have been placed in multiple locations throughout the country as a large-scale social experiment by Matter Neuroscience.

According to a plaque on the phone, the goal of the experiment is to connect young adults with senior citizens, as evidence suggests they are the two age groups who are most likely to be negatively impacted with loneliness. Conversations are recorded to be studied and shared on social media.

The phone is the third of its kind in the country, with the first two still in use in San Francisco, California and Abilene, Texas. The Brookline edition of “Call a Boomer” is expected to remain in use for three more weeks.

Matter Neuroscience is a biotechnology company that was founded in 2019 out of Boulder, Colorado. It focuses on mental health improvement.

Read more at Boston.com.

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