Combating Loneliness

What is it?

When we think about people experiencing loneliness, it might be the older generations that first spring to mind. But recent research suggests that its young people who are struggling the most.

"As psychologists worry that the coronavirus pandemic is triggering a loneliness epidemic, new Harvard research suggests feelings of social isolation are on the rise and that those hardest hit are older teens and young adults." [The Harvard Gazette]

It’s no surprise that Gen Z had a tough time during the pandemic, suffering a massive interruption in education and social interaction at a crucial stage in their lives. The impact of the pandemic on young people will be far-reaching. But it shouldn’t mask the enduring social problem and serious consequences of loneliness in our ageing population.

As we age, we’re more likely to experience challenges like the deaths of spouses and friends, family moving away, leaving our workplaces, or the onset of disability or illness. Any of these can make us especially vulnerable to loneliness. Feeling lonely then goes on to have a negative impact on our health.

According to Julianne Holt-Lunstad, psychology professor at Brigham Young University, loneliness can be as damaging to people’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, contributing to early mortality. Studies have shown that people who identify themselves as lonely are 59% more likely to lose their ability to perform daily living tasks, and are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, dementia, and depression.

Why should I care?

The loneliness problem is widespread, long-term and set to underpin our efforts to tackle all kinds of social issues over the coming years. With the UK government, the NHS and countless businesses and charities working to tackle it, the loneliness epidemic is the context in which we’re going to be working for the foreseeable future.

Loneliness impacts all areas of the third sector, from health, mental health, disability and sport to housing, community development, education, arts and culture. It’s already affecting how people interact with services and communications, and it needs to inform how charities approach and connect with supporters and beneficiaries. The more charities can be sensitive to the stigma of loneliness and understand it as being complex, multi-faceted and sometimes hidden, the more they increase their chances of making an impact.

Loneliness - The Data

• Loneliness is likely to increase your risk of death by 26% (Holt-Lunstad, 2015)
• Loneliness is worse for you than obesity. (Holt-Lunstad, 2010)
• Loneliness and social isolation put individuals at greater risk of cognitive decline and dementia

Loneliness & Age

• The number of over-50s experiencing loneliness is set to reach two million by 2025/6. This compares to around 1.4 million in 2016/7 – a 49% increase in 10 years
• Half a million older people go at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all
• Well over half (59%) of those aged 85 and over and 38% of those aged 75 to 84 live alone
• Two fifths all older people (about 3.9 million) say the television is their main company
• In total, 45% of adults feel occasionally, sometimes or often lonely in England. This equates to twenty five million people.
• In 2016 to 2017, there were 5% of adults (aged 16 years and over) in England reporting feeling lonely “often/always” – that’s 1 in 20 adults. Furthermore, 16% of adults reported feeling lonely sometimes and 24% occasionally.
• Research commissioned by Eden Project initiative The Big Lunch found that disconnected communities could be costing the UK economy £32 billion every year.
• Characteristics of people who are more likely to experience loneliness include: those who are widowed, those with poorer health and those with long-term illness or disability. 43.45% of the group reporting bad or very bad health are often/always lonely.

Gender and Loneliness

• According to the ONS, women reported feeling lonely more frequently than men. They were significantly more likely than men to report feeling lonely “often/always”, “some of the time” and “occasionally” and were much less likely than men to say they “never” felt lonely
• While higher percentages of older women report loneliness compared to men, a greater number of older men (50+) report moderate to high levels of social isolation
• 14% of older men experienced moderate to high social isolation compared to 11% of women

Data from the Campaign to End Loneliness

Health Connections

Loneliness and health are so closely linked that to address loneliness is also to address health and mental health. A 2020 U.S. study found that social isolation or loneliness was associated with a significant increase in the risk of dementia, heart disease and stroke as well as depression, anxiety and suicide. The NHS is now using social prescribing to “connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support.”

The pandemic has shown us that older generations are already using social platforms like WhatsApp and Zoom to connect and socialise. We’re going to continue to see big advances in the use of technology around health. Physician thought leader Dr Joseph Kvedar M.D. believes that “digital health technologies can enhance what I believe are the three biggest predictors of longevity: having a sense of purpose, maintaining social connections and engaging in physical activity.”

At this year’s South By Southwest, researchers cited a small study that suggests exposing people with Alzheimer's and dementia to virtual reality could help them recall certain memories or senses. Where drug trials have failed or proved controversial, VR could start to play a role in the Alzheimer's treatment of the future. Already, four members of U.S. congress have introduced a bipartisan bill that would allow Medicare to cover prescription digital therapeutics.

Tech Developments

AARP International’s healthy ageing insights point to partnerships as a way to improve digital connectedness among older adults. It highlights the scheme in Japan which saw IBM and Google partner with Japan’s postal service to supply free iPads and tablets to older adults living at home. “The tablets were loaded with easy-to-use software for booking medical appointments, hiring handymen, and video conferencing with friends and family… postal workers were available during their daily routes to provide technical training and support.”

Miri Polachek, CEO of tech investment firm Joy Ventures, believes “the products that positively impact loneliness now and in a post-COVID-19 reality will be the ones that create personalised, highly tailored experiences for users, leveraging technologies like AI, big data and biofeedback”. We’re now starting to see chatbots like Woebot and Replika that can empower users to take charge of their emotional wellbeing and equip people to have more empathetic conversations.

In immersive tech, there are developments like Alcove, a virtual living room to bring international and intergenerational families together to play games, watch videos, and forge memories. And breaking down barriers in accessibility there’s KOMP, a screen that “seniors’ digitally native children and grandchildren can use to share photos, send messages, and make video calls, while the end user need only use one button to keep things simple”.

Cultural Interventions

OASIS, a pilot project by Paintings In Hospitals, aims to place meaningful artworks, specially produced by artists for individuals, directly into people’s homes so they can make new social connections through guided conversations and group activities. “We know that art can bring comfort, joy, inspiration, or a chance to lose oneself in a moment,” says Janette Powell of project partner Reconnections by Independent Age. “We are keen to allow people to engage with whichever art form appeals to them and bring it directly into their homes. OASIS also presents an opportunity to connect individuals with each other, and it is this ripple effect that excites us.”

We Belong Together, backed by Leeds Beckett Academic, was created “to tackle and understand the impact of contemporary art in combating loneliness in care settings.” Delivered remotely, and supported by a team on the ground locally, care villages formed ‘orchestras’, creating sounds using objects from cheese graters to doorbells, megaphones, whistles and the voices of tenants. “65% felt a stronger sense of belonging and felt there would be more people who would be there for them and 80% said they were less likely to feel lonely as a result of the project.”

UCL’s award-winning Museums on Prescription “found that arts and culture visits have significant potential to reduce isolation in older age.” The project was found to “reduce feelings of loneliness and reduce isolation by giving older adults the opportunity to come together with others in spaces which spark conversation and contemplation.