Loneliness is a serious problem that can have significant health implications for the older generation

Suffolk Age UK (Image: Archant)

“Loneliness is something many of us never think about when we are surrounded by our family and friends.

“However, for a great number of older people, loneliness is a day-to-day reality and being lonely can significantly affect their health and well-being.”

So says Dr Dan Poulter. The MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich also has experience as an NHS hospital doctor, and more than two years ago he joined the Government as a health minister. He’s backing the Shine a Light on Loneliness campaign.

“Depression, increased stress levels and decreased memory are just some of the ways that being lonely can impact upon people’s lives,” says the MP.

“There is no easy way to prevent loneliness; it cannot be cured by drugs or an exercise regime.

“This is something that we can all help with by taking time out of our busy lives to talk to our elderly neighbours or make a phone call to a friend or relative who lives alone.

One of Sam Reid's Age UK Suffolk exercise classes in Bury St Edmunds. She says: 'Exercise has been proven to benefit our mood and self-belief, but much older people don�t always know what is available and appropriate for them' (Image: Archant)

“Helping to combat loneliness will not just keep people socially active and able to enjoy their lives, it will help keep them from becoming sick and unwell.

“Loneliness is a serious public health issue which we can all help to do something about.

“No training is needed to make a big difference and help alleviate loneliness in someone’s life.”

That’s why Dr Poulter is happy to support the campaign. “Highlighting loneliness will make us more aware of our elderly neighbours and what we can do to make sure they remain as active and well members of our local communities.”

Research collated by Age UK Suffolk from various sources makes it clear why we should all strive to make the lives of older folk a bit more rewarding and full.

There are many root causes of loneliness, but life-changes such as retirement, relationship breakdowns, moving house, death of family members and friends, illness, financial circumstances, mobility issues and lack of access to transport are common factors cited by older folk.

Folk at one of Sam Reid's Age UK Suffolk exercise classes in Bury St Edmunds. 'We all want to feel needed, and the less contact we have with people, the less effort we make in our own lives,' she says (Image: Archant)

People can experience loneliness even when they have a supportive family or friends close by, or live in a busy town.

• Loneliness isn’t determined by how sociable you are; sociable people still experience loneliness in their lives.

• Friendship helps older people develop a resilience and ability to bounce back after adversity, as well as giving them an ability to gain strength from stress, rather than be diminished by it.

• In England, 51% of all people over 75 live alone and five million older people say the television is their main form of company.

• Loneliness is not an inevitable feature of old age, but is more likely to affect pensioners because of bereavement, ill health and poverty.

• A study of loneliness in older Britons in 2012 found that more than a fifth felt lonely all the time.

• Lonely people are nearly twice as likely to die prematurely as those who do not suffer feelings of isolation. Loneliness has about twice the impact on an early death as obesity. Poverty increased the risk of an early death by 19%.

• Men feel under increased pressure to manage feelings of loneliness without help.

• Research studies have revealed a significant relationship between depression and loneliness.

• Social isolation is a major risk factor for functional difficulties in older people. The loss of important relationships can lead to feelings of emptiness and depression.

• Feeling isolated from other people can disrupt sleep, raise blood pressure, lower immunity, increase depression, lower overall subjective wellbeing and increase the stress hormone cortisol. (At sustained high levels, cortisol gradually wears down the body).

• Enabling people to get out and about more often would not only make feel them less lonely but actively increase their life expectancy.

• On current projections, it is expected that nearly two million people will be experiencing chronic loneliness by 2033.

•Older people frequently receive care but are all too often stripped of their role as caregivers – not only through the major loss of people close to them but also through the loss of small, incidental interactions with colleagues, neighbours, passers-by and strangers.

The EADT has joined with local charity Age UK Suffolk to launch the Shine a Light on Loneliness Campaign and try to make the situation better in East Anglia.

There are more than 158,000 older people (aged over 65) in the county. That’s about one person in every five.

In Suffolk, more than 15,000 older people go a month or more without having a single conversation with a family member, friend or neighbour.

There are steps we can take to help – from saying a simple “good morning” to those we pass in the street, to keeping in touch with our neighbours or becoming a volunteer befriender and spending about an hour a week chatting to an older person – either face to face or on the phone.

Volunteers with common interests, culture or background to their befriendees are more likely to build good relationships, which is why Age UK Suffolk takes the time to find a good “match”.

Volunteering – and there are many more key roles than becoming a befriender – is a great way to meet new people, develop confidence and connect with the community.

Age UK Suffolk’s shops and walk-in information help centres can be the only social contact that some lonely and isolated older people have, but they are vital in highlighting what help is available if people want it.

We all want to feel needed

Suffer a tumble and it can have a major impact on an older person’s experience of loneliness and isolation. Sam Reid, Age UK Suffolk’s falls prevention exercise co-ordinator, explains:

“Through the project I lead we have got over 250 people in West Suffolk attending weekly falls prevention exercise classes, which are proven to reduce falling. However, many clients come to us after they have had one or more falls and many tell us how much it has changed their lives.

“One client said ‘I fell in my bedroom and it took me six hours to get to a telephone downstairs and get help. I have since got an alarm and am so grateful that these classes exist.

‘The whole thing shook me up and made me think about how I would manage if I had to move house because of the stairs, but the exercises have given me back my strength to stay where I want to.

‘I am 90 and don’t get out very much. I have family not far away but they are always so busy I can’t rely on them all the time. Coming to the class has given me the social interaction that I wanted back in my life and a new circle of people to talk to.

‘The instructor also gave me information on other groups which I could get involved with. Because of my age I get my class free of charge and I walk to the session each week, so it is keeping me active too.

‘I have spent many days not talking to anyone and it does get me down, especially in the winter. You don’t feel you can strike up a conversation with anyone unless they know you, and if you don’t go out you reduce your chances of meeting people and your confidence goes.’

“Within six months of having a fall over 60% of clients over 70- years- old will have another fall, increasing the risk of breaking and fracturing a bone.

“This results in changing clients’ home needs, either by needing more care to stay at home or moving into sheltered or residential care. This has a dramatic effect on people’s opportunities to get out and meet friends and family.

“We all want to feel needed, and the less contact we have with people, the less effort we make in our own lives.

“Exercise has been proven to benefit our mood and self-belief, but much older people don’t always know what is available and appropriate for them.

“We are very lucky in West Suffolk as we have a lot of provisions. Sadly, it is not until someone has broken a bone or had a fall that they are told about these opportunities.

“Our classes are now starting to change this, as health professionals support the classes we provide; and because the classes are self-funded, they are not just a short-term option.”