Loneliness And Social Isolation Research Paper

Preventing loneliness and social isolation: interventions and outcomes
Introduction

This is one in a series of research briefings about preventive care and support for adults.
Prevention is broadly defined to include a wide range of services that:
• promote independence
• prevent or delay the deterioration of wellbeing resulting from ageing, illness or disability
• delay the need for more costly and intensive services.
Preventive services represent a continuum of support ranging from the most intensive, ‘tertiary services’ such as intermediate care or reablement, down to ‘secondary’ or early intervention, and finally, ‘primary prevention’ aimed at promoting wellbeing. Primary prevention is generally designed for people with few
Our review question was: ‘To what extent does investment in services that prevent social isolation improve people’s wellbeing and reduce the need for ongoing care and support?’ While ‘social isolation’ and ‘loneliness’ are often used interchangeably, one paper2 examined the distinct meanings that people attach to each concept. ‘Loneliness’ was reported as being a subjective, negative feeling associated with loss (e.g. loss of a partner or children relocating), while ‘social isolation’ was described as imposed isolation from normal social networks caused by loss of mobility or deteriorating health. This briefing focuses on services aimed at reducing the effects of both loneliness and social isolation. Although the terms might have slightly different meanings, the experience of both is generally negative and the resulting impacts are undesirable at the individual, community and societal
young care-leavers, refugees and those with mental health problems). Nevertheless, older people (as individuals as well as carers) have specific vulnerabilities owing to ‘loss of friends and family, loss of mobility or loss of income’.3 In consequence, there has been a policy concentration on this group.4–7The statistics on population ageing in the UK (and in many developed countries) are well known. Those aged 60 and above currently account for approximately 20 per cent of the population and this proportion is expected to rise to 24 per cent by 2030.8 In the next 20 years, the population of those aged over 80 will treble and those over 90 will double.9 In exploring prevalence, it is estimated that across the present population aged 65 and over, between 5 and 16 per cent report loneliness,10while 12 per cent feel socially isolated.9 In looking at the experiences of a nationally representative sample, Victor et al11 found that 2 per cent of individuals reported that they were ‘always lonely’, 5 per cent that they were ‘often lonely’ and 31 per cent rated themselves as ‘sometimes lonely’. Such figures are likely to expand with increasing family dispersal and growing numbers of older people and the ‘older-old’ − those aged 80 and