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The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on the progress of the Campaign to End Loneliness, and aims to illustrate how commissioners can be influenced to address loneliness in their localities.

The paper is a case study that draws upon an external evaluation of the Campaign to End Loneliness by Charities Evaluation Services, a review of local government strategies and case studies of good practice.

This paper focuses on the design, implementation and progress of Loneliness Harms Health, a series of local campaigns targeting health and wellbeing boards. It provides a case study of how evidence-based campaigning influenced newly formed health and wellbeing boards to address loneliness in their localities, and identifies implications for commissioner and provider practice.

This paper demonstrates how to successfully influence commissioning practice using a “pincer” movement of local campaigning, top-down advice and information. It highlights examples of good practice uncovered by the Campaign over the past 18 months including measurement of, and partnership working around, the issue of loneliness in older age. Three recommendations are made for local service providers and commissioners wishing to address loneliness: it should be linked to other priorities, cross-agency partnerships are vital and asset-based approaches can save money. It concludes with information about the future of the Campaign to End Loneliness and information on how to get involved.

This paper provides a detailed analysis of an innovative, policy-based, campaigning strategy to influence commissioning and practice around the issue of loneliness in older age. It is an issue which can be easily overlooked by care, public health and NHS professionals, but early results indicate the newly formed health and wellbeing boards can play a significant role in addressing it.

This paper aims to give an overview of the issue of loneliness, an update of issues heard of from across the country, as well as some positive stories and projects being delivered to alleviate loneliness in older age.

This paper describes the current research into loneliness in older age, including related health issues and anecdotal evidence from local groups linking reductions in services with increased levels of loneliness in older age.

Loneliness is a highly subjective emotion that is difficult and complex to measure. However, research has shown that men and women are affected differently. It has been shown to have strong links to health issues such as depression, Alzheimer's and heart disease as well as having been shown to be a bigger risk factor in early mortality than lifelong smoking and obesity.

This paper highlights the first steps being taken by organisations working, under the umbrella of a recently launched Campaign to End Loneliness, towards further reducing loneliness in older age.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the actions needed and organisations to make a difference to the problem of loneliness in old age.

Draws on the work of the Campaign to End Loneliness in collaboration with hundreds of organisations worldwide to document what has been done so far and to provide exemplars and imagined case studies based on collected experience to identify potential relevant actions.

Many hundreds of organisations worldwide are recognising the need to support older peoples’ connections and abilities to engage with their communities. However, these need to be better mapped and coordinated.

Innovative work is already being done to tackle loneliness needs to be more systematically supported and promoted.

Identifies how much has already changed in terms of recognising and addressing loneliness but that a more comprehensive approach to support is needed.

This paper aims to present and discuss a range of evidence from across the UK and further afield that supports the view that preventing loneliness through action by all ages will ultimately improve the health and wellbeing of older people, and that an asset‐based, cross‐agency movement to creating and maintaining connections in older age could deliver savings to both health and social care in the long term.

The paper is a collation of academic research, along with more informal evidence from voluntary sector groups to support an approach to policy and practice that tackles loneliness in older age.

Drawing on evidence from UK and US research that states the health impact of loneliness, a view of the multi‐layered action required shows that local health bodies, charities and groups as well as neighbours and businesses have crucial parts to play to stop the pernicious hold of loneliness in older age.

The arguments put forward here draw on research undertaken by academic authors but their collation to present a view on how to address the impact of loneliness on health is a relatively recent one.

There is extensive empirical literature that has sought to establish the prevalence of, and risk factors for, loneliness and social isolation in later life. Traditional empirical gerontological approaches have characterised loneliness as a linear experience that is both pathological and easily relieved with external intervention. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of qualitative interview data to reveal the possible complexities in understanding loneliness, including conceptual considerations for the dynamic and multi-dimensional aspects of loneliness.

The authors draw on two different studies where the purpose was to qualitatively examine the meaning of loneliness in the lives of older people and how they understood loneliness in the context of their daily life (n=37).

Interviews with “lonely” older people revealed that loneliness is a complex and dynamic experience. The authors also identified a range of internal and external factors that contribute to vulnerability for loneliness as well as resources to alleviate it.

The dynamic and multi-dimensional characteristics of loneliness in older people may help explain why community-based interventions to diminish it may be so challenging.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the need to develop a more balanced approach to addressing the loneliness experience by older people by recognising the psychological and emotional dynamics which cause it. It proposes a more holistic psychosocial approach to loneliness.

This paper draws on and reviews the published literature on the psychological aspects of loneliness.

Although not extensive, there is sufficient evidence to begin to develop and test more psychosocial approaches to addressing loneliness.

The evidence base is not extensive and a fair degree of it has not been fully trialled with older people.

There is an a priori case for using the evidence that exists to develop and test out new psychosocial interventions for addressing loneliness.

It is possible that a more psychosocial approach to loneliness will enable more to be done to address the significant distress of older people experience severe and chronic loneliness. It may also be possible to develop more effective preventative strategies which build resilience in older people.

The field of loneliness practice and research is overwhelmingly based on sociological analysis and social interventions. This paper is one of the first to explicitly highlight the value in drawing from psychological data in order to develop psychosocial approaches.

Loneliness has been a known severe public health concern among the elderly population during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aims to discuss the practicalities of using emerging technologies to address elderly loneliness and its implications and adaptations to the outbreak of corona virus disease–2019.

The authors draw on examples from the literature and their own observations from working with older adults, to provide an overview of possible ways technology could help this population in the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Technological advancements have offered remarkable opportunities to deliver care and maintain connections despite the need to stay physically separated. These tools can be integrated into crisis communications, public health responses and care programs to address loneliness among the elderly. However, it must be done strategically and informed by the type of loneliness at play, environmental factors, socioeconomics and technological literacy.

Care-providing organizations and policymakers should consider the risk of loneliness while responding to COVID-19 outbreak, particularly within elderly populations. As a part of a broader plan, technological solutions and low-tech approaches can make a difference in mitigating loneliness. Solutions should be accessible to and usable by older adults. Provision of equipment, training and guidance may be necessary to execute a technology-centric plan; for some communities and individuals, approaches that do not rely on advanced technology may be more effective.

Technological advancements can be a valuable tool in addressing known public health concerns, such as loneliness among the elderly populations. However, the use of this tool should be governed by the specific situation at hand, taking into consideration individual needs and environmental factors, especially the compounded effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Different technological programs and approaches are appropriate for different types of loneliness. For example, online therapy such as internet-based cognitive behavior therapy may mitigate loneliness caused by fear and online interaction such as videoconferencing may relieve loneliness caused by lack of social engagement.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the work of the new, free telephone helpline The Silver Line in empowering older people to overcome social isolation and loneliness, and where appropriate refer cases of abuse and neglect to specialist services.

Beginning with a family member's description of how the helpline made a difference to her relative this paper then outlines the rationale, methods and outcomes of The Silver Line, including a role it may play in reducing demand for NHS services.

The paper highlights that social isolation and loneliness can be tackled through a helpline which leaves control firmly in the hands of callers while offering them a gateway to activities and services.

It seems that telephone contact is a particularly helpful way for isolated people to begin to build social contact given that there is evidence of a stigma associated with admitting to loneliness.

Given a straightforward way to connect to others, people are empowered to overcome their own loneliness, improve their well-being and sometimes to rejoin their community. The charity reports that callers to the helpline may themselves become volunteer befrienders (“Silver Line Friends”) providing support to others and gaining evidence of their own value to society. In addition, a friendly chat over the phone can be an enabling link to gaining new skills, such as computer literacy, which may otherwise seem out of reach or irrelevant.

The paper emphasises the importance of this helpline specifically and the wider need for hard to reach, isolated older people to have an accessible stepping stone to greater social contact and a higher quality of life.

This paper aims to explore the links between being lonely and isolated, and increased risks of abuse for adults with care and support needs.

Thematic analysis was used to explore features of loneliness and social isolation present in South Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) published since 2014.

Ten out of fifteen SARs indicated there had been issues of loneliness and/or social isolation for the person who was the subject of the SAR.

The limitations of this paper are that it only included SARs from the South Yorkshire area. Future research should explore national and international perspectives on these issues.

Safeguarding Boards should include actions to address loneliness and social isolation as part of prevention strategies and services to develop approaches that can minimise or prevent abuse before it occurs. Practitioners should routinely explore whether the people they work with feel lonely and/or isolated and support people to take appropriate action to mitigate these risks.

This paper uses the existing body of literature about loneliness and social isolation to explore the risks of abuse and neglect for adults with care and support needs.