“The most terrible poverty”:loneliness in later life

Alcohol and older peoplePaul Cann, 15 December 2011

www.campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk

So who are the new old ?

Paul Cann

‘Marketing’, 8th Annual Conference May 2009

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“National disgrace of our older people’s isolation” (Julia Neuberger, 2007)

• What we mean• How common• Who• Why• How we can reduce it• Whose problem?

www.campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk

“That awful loneliness…like the cold space between planets” (Hilaire Belloc)

What are we talking about ?Distinct from, but related to…

• Isolation• Social exclusion• Happiness• Well-being

The painful sense of a gap in your life between the number and quality of contacts you have and want

The Campaign

• A mass movement • Here for the long term• Roots in research• Raising awareness• What works• Future-proofing• Vision

www.campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk

What does it mean ?

“I’ve gone three years without hardly ever talking to anyone”

“I get lonely. You can’t help it. The worst day is Sunday – that’s my worst day”

“Quality of life ends for me at 6 pm”

“I go in the car and sit in the supermarket car park where there are lots of people and traffic, and that helps”

What does it mean ?

• As big a risk to health as smoking and obesity

• A doubled risk of Alzheimer’s disease• Greater likelihood of unhealthy life style• Damage to immune and CV system• Clear link to depression

Who does it affect ?

• 8-10% feel lonely “always or often”• 1 million in the UK• Fewer ‘never lonely’, more ‘sometimes’• More evidence needed on the journey• Variations eg “tv as company”

….as individuals….

“I know people contribute a lot toward making your life, but I do think you’ve got to try and make a life for yourself as well. I mean, I for one would not sit here for 3 weeks on my own with no one to talk to. I’ve got a free bus pass and I would go to…one of the big places ‘cause there is always somebody that will talk to you”

…..through interventions….

(health warning: there is limited evidence of success)

• Effective interventions are..

- often group interventions with a focused educational input or provide targeted support activities

- Target specific groups eg the widowed, physically inactive etc

- Representative of the target group- Consultation and control by the targeted- Developed within an existing service

….through policy and practice

ending age discrimination

ensuring decent income

homes and neighbourhoods

prevention: words not deeds

connecting

…all together…….

• Retirement• Finding new contribution• Moving on or staying put• Becoming a carer• Onset of care needs• Bereavement• Dying

“Safeguarding the convoy”

Here for the long term

• Filling the gaps• Sharing what we already know• Helping knowledge travel: a learning hub?• Partnership: can it really happen

www.campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk

“All my life I’ve been needed one way of an other. We need to be needed”Help the Aged 2008

“Public health” vs “nanny state”

• Perspectives on time:

“suddenly everything matters now”

• Attitudes to risk, responsibility and older people:

“my life, my choice”

Are we looking at symptoms or causes ?

“There are probably thousands like her. Men and women who have lived a lot and loved a lot. Men and women who are not yet done with being ferocious and bright, but for whom time now stands empty as they wait in homes full of silence; their only misunderstanding to have lived in an age when they are no longer coveted by a society addicted to youth”

Dr Ishani Kar-Purkayastha

www.campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk