Society must act on loneliness

Sir, – Loneliness is a major issue, affecting people from all walks of life regardless of age or ability.

That’s why we’re pleased the Scottish Government is looking at a new approach to tackling the issues of loneliness and social isolation.

A recent survey of more than 150 users of our homecare services in Stirling, Falkirk, Perth and Kinross, and Angus revealed the loneliest people receive far fewer visitors. While this is hardly surprising we did find that those who lived with family or had family close by were less at risk of loneliness and the associated negative health impacts.

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 but for someone who is alone, watching time go by slowly, it’s incredibly painful to sit at home day after day with no communication from the outside world.

Charities such as Sue Ryder regularly arrange social events for service users and their families but if, as a nation, we’re serious about tackling loneliness as a public health issue we need to be resourcing our local authorities to put services in place or to commission them from the third sector to ensure no one feels alone and isolated in Scotland.

Pamela Mackenzie, Sue Ryder Director of Neurological Services and Scotland. Wallace House, Stirling.