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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Loneliness and social isolation
in the London Borough of
Hounslow
Kate Jopling
Hardeep Aiden
Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
About this review
Commissioned by the London Borough of Hounslow
– to feed into work around the Joint Strategic Needs
Assessment
Focussed on both social isolation and loneliness
Focussed on people aged 65+ – though loneliness
and isolation is of broader interest
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Overview
Risk factors for loneliness and the profile of
LB Hounslow
Provision for people at risk of, or experiencing
loneliness and social isolation
Assessing provision against the Promising
Approaches framework
Evidence for impact of current provision
Gaps and recommendations for action
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Methods
Rapid review of the evidence
Assessment of data from local and national sources
Interviews with 9 key local stakeholders – bolstered
by review of written information / informal
discussions
NB – the picture cannot be comprehensive – there
may be gaps
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
About loneliness
Loneliness and isolation are related but distinct
concepts
Isolation is objective (though definitions vary),
loneliness is subjective
Around 10% of older people are often or always
lonely
Around 3000 older people in LB Hounslow would be
expected to be experiencing chronic loneliness
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
About loneliness
Loneliness and social isolation have clear impacts
on health
Weak social connection is a similar risk factor for
early mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day
Loneliness directly impacts health – links to
depression, stroke, dementia etc.
Loneliness makes people less likely to pursue healthy
behaviours – e.g. Physical activity
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
About loneliness
Evidence around the cost implications of loneliness
is weaker – but impact is thought to be significant
Reconnections programme in Hereford and
Worcestershire is testing assumption that being
lonely costs around £12,000 per person across their
older lifetime
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Other factors of interest to LB Hounslow
Belonging to a faith community / having a faith
Transience of the community
Geographical challenges
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Age UK heat map
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Evidence for loneliness interventions:
Direct Interventions
These approaches are most often studied
There is strong evidence of the impact of psychological approaches
The evidence around one-to-one interventions – i.e. Befriending – is mixed, but services are highly valued
Emerging evidence from Reconnections suggests befriending is crucial for the most lonely individuals
We know the criteria for an effective group-based intervention:
– Targeted towards a specific group
– Focussed on a shared interest / enabling learning
– Involve older people in running the group
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Conclusions and
recommendations
Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Key findings
Older people in LB Hounslow may be at higher risk
of loneliness and social isolation than UK average
Likely to be more than 3000 chronically lonely older
adults in LB Hounslow
Good reason to believe current approaches are
not effectively reaching and meeting the needs of
lonely people (see ASCOF / PHOF data)
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Key findings
The Borough has a range of provision – but there is a high degree of flux in the system
LB Hounslow has many of the features of an effective response to loneliness as per Promising Approaches
The lack of an overarching strategy for tackling loneliness means there is no sense of how components fit together and there are gaps
There is no clear pathway through which a lonely individual should be guided to support
There are gaps through which lonely individuals can fall
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Addressing gaps in provision:
Foundation services
The development of LIFE is significant – it could be
a core Foundation Service
To be most effective, services need to build in
insight around loneliness
Identifying lonely people and targeting support on
the most lonely remains a gap
The best way to fill this gap will depend on the wider
structural approach adopted
Need clarity around who will support lonely
individuals to access community provision –
signposting is not enough
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Addressing gaps in provision:
Direct interventions
The risk to Age UK Hounslow’s befriending service is
significant
There is some risk that current users will lose support
and significant risk that the 300+ people on the
waiting list, and further potential beneficiaries will go
unsupported
There is likely to be unmet need among adult social
care users
There is emerging evidence that the most
chronically lonely need befriending support
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Addressing gaps in provision:
Direct interventions
Difficult to gain and overview of provision and assess underserved groups
Many of the Foundation Services aspire to refer people to appropriate provision – but are they making use of the full range?
We don’t know:
– Who is using services
– What impact services are having
– Whether current provision meets people’s needs
Carers and adult social care users clearly need more support
Other groups which may need attention: LGBT older people, older people from smaller minority ethnic communities
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Improving targeting of support
Restricting access to social activities using eligibility
criteria would not be appropriate in most cases
Legitimate to consider how groups receiving public
funds can meet the needs of most lonely – e.g. By
locating based on loneliness risk / drawing on
information around risk factors
Outreach and referral mechanisms should be a
consideration in providing funding to social groups
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Assessing impact of provision
The approach to monitoring who is using services
and their impact is patchy
This is, in part, a result of disparate funding streams
and programmes under which provision is funded
LB Hounslow should consider how to encourage
more consistent impact measurement around
loneliness
LB Hounslow could contribute to the emerging
evidence-base on loneliness by using recognised
tools to assess impact
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Addressing gaps in provision:
Gateway services
Transport is a cause of concern and a driver of costs
Taking a different structural approach to loneliness could
help reduce this challenge – e.g. Taking a
neighbourhood approach / introducing a volunteer
driving scheme
The potential of technology to support connection and
reduce costs of provision seems under-explored
Older people are likely to need tailored support to use
technology to its full potential
The potential of non-user-friendly technology to exclude
and isolate older people should be a core consideration
in service development
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Loneliness and social isolation in the London Borough of Hounslow
Addressing gaps in provision: Towards a more
strategic approach
Widespread recognition of the need for a more strategic approach
Potential to reduce costs of provision – b reducing duplication, and supporting communities to draw on existing assets
Early priority to determine LB Hounslow’s strategic approach – which structural enablers can support the work here?
There are green shoots around several structural enablers – but the core approach needs to be articulated
Is the focus on neighbourhoods / non-geographical communities / community development / targeted provision etc?
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Thank you for listening
Contact us
Kate Jopling
Hardeep Aiden