‘Sick and vulnerable feel lonely’
MORE THAN HALF OF PEOPLE SUPPORTED BY ADULT CARE SERVICES SAY THEY DON’T TALK TO FRIENDS ENOUGH
SICK and vulnerable adults in Manchester are at risk of loneliness, with more than half saying they don’t talk to friends enough.
A survey from the NHS has revealed that just 42 per cent of people supported by adult social services in the city get as much social contact as they want, with people that they like.
A further 31pc of respondents said they had “adequate” social contact with people – but not as much as they wanted.
Meanwhile, 17pc said they had some social contact, but not enough, and a further 10pc said they had little contact and felt socially isolated.
The 42pc who were happy with the amount of social contact they get is lower than the national average, and compares with 46pc across England.
Studies have shown that having limited face-to-face social contact can nearly double someone’s risk of depression.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 56pc of sick, vulnerable and elderly people in Manchester say they are anxious or depressed – with 10pc saying they are “extremely” so.
More than half of people across Greater Manchester do feel that the care and support services they receive help them with having social contact – although clearly in many cases this is not enough.
Other areas in our region also saw particularly low numbers of people who receive long term care from their council saying they get enough social contact. Stockport saw the lowest proportion in Greater Manchester, with just 41pc of adult social service users saying they get as much social contact as they want with people they like. Rochdale has the highest proportion locally – although not much better than the national average – with 50pc happy with their social life.
The good news is that the situation has been improving across the country over the last few years, and the same is true across most of Greater Manchester.
Nationally, the proportion of people content with how much they socialise has risen from 43pc in 2012-13 to 46pc last year. However, Manchester itself has seen the proportion of people getting as much social contact as they want drop slightly over the same period - falling from 43pc to 42pc.