Alone and isolated

Sir, Loneliness is a major issue in society and affects everyone from all walks of life, regardless of age or ability.

That’s why we’re pleased the Scottish Government is looking at the development of a new approach to tackling the issues of loneliness and social isolation – something we have first-hand experience of and how it affects many of the people we support in Scotland.

Following a recent survey of more than 150 service users of our homecare services in Stirling, Falkirk, Perth and Kinross, and Angus which focused solely on loneliness and social isolation, it was revealed that loneliest people receive far fewer visitors each week.

While this is hardly surprising, we did find that those who either lived with family or had family close by were less at risk of loneliness and the negative health impacts associated. Our research also highlighted that respondents, in most cases, simply wanted a chat over a cuppa with someone their own age.

Social interactions are something the vast majority of us take for granted as we all lead such busy lives, but for someone who is alone, watching time go by very slowly, it’s incredibly painful for them to sit at home day after day with no communication from the outside world.

Charities such as Sue Ryder regularly arrange social events for our service users and their families.

But if, as a nation, we’re serious about tackling loneliness as a public health issue then we need to be resourcing our local authorities to put in place services or to commission them from the third sector to ensure that no one feels alone and isolated in Scotland.

Pamela Mackenzie, Sue Ryder, Stirling