People who need people

The holiday season is upon us, and I am sure many are looking forward to spending time with those near and dear to them, sharing old memories and making new ones. However, this season is also when those among us who live by themselves feel the most alone and isolated (Scott, 2019). According to Age UK (2018), there are subtle but important differences between loneliness and isolation: while loneliness refers to the gap in the amount of social engagement a person desires and receives, social isolation refers to the number of social contacts a person has. Since loneliness is subjective, it is more difficult to address.

In the past few decades, family and social structures have witnessed remarkable changes, both in the Western world as well as globally (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2011). With these changes come the social isolation and loneliness experienced by many older adults. Several studies have shown the health effects of loneliness (Gale et al, 2018; National Institute on Aging, 2019), which include depression, cognitive decline, coronary heart disease and stroke and clinical dementia (Campaign to End Loneliness, 2019). Older adults who live alone also have a tendency to neglect themselves (Cook, 2017); a recent article in the Telegraph (Swerling, 2019) reported that, in the UK, up to 1 million older adults avoid eating entirely as they lack the motivation to prepare and eat meals when they are alone.