Tackling loneliness through connections and creativity #BUNotAlone

It was a very enjoyable day and great to hear a diverse range of speakers and willing attendees who were prepared to ‘show and tell’ about their work to combat loneliness and join in lively conversations.

A highlight of the day was spending time with the lovely Caring Canines (and their human companions of course!). Thanks to Julie and all the teams for coming to the theatre to share their expertise.

Lunch was a delicious assortment of savoury and sweet treats provided by Crumbs, who also shared with us the purpose and aims of the organisation.

Thank you to everyone for your flexibility and willingness to join in the afternoon plenary session too.

We really enjoyed the day and the feedback has been very positive.

Increasingly loneliness is a concern for health and social care agencies as it can be ‘a tipping point’ for an individual being referred to adult social care or being seen regularly at GP Surgeries’ (LGA, 2016:2). It can have serious detrimental impacts on both mental and physical health and wellbeing, and may also increase the risk of individuals responding to financial scams and manipulation. Purposeful social activity has been identified as an important aspect of well-being in later life (Allpass et al. 2007), and it is therefore important for society to look at ways of tackling loneliness which build on social connectedness and creativity, and which offer individuals opportunities to build and share social capital.

This ESRC Festival of Social Science event will showcase recent research and best practice responses dealing with loneliness. Alongside key presentations there will be opportunities to think creatively about how both agencies can work together to build creative responses to tackle loneliness.

References

• Allpass, F., Towers, A., Stephens, C., Fitzgerald, E., Stevenson, B. and Davey, S. (2007) Independence, well-being and social participation in an aging population. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1114: 241-50.
• Local Government Association (2016) Combating loneliness: A guide for local authorities. London: LGA.