Enjoy the blether

I write in response to Kevan Christie’s Inside Health column on the importance of human contact when caring for older people.

One of the main issues facing our ageing society is loneliness. More than half of all older people live alone and many struggle to leave the house. This leads to social isolation, which has an undoubtable and major impact on mental and physical well-being.

The amalgamation of health and social care departments, alongside loneliness campaigns, has gone some way to addressing this issue but there is still a lot that must be done.

As Mr Christie says, the healing properties of a cup of tea, biscuit and blether are mighty.

Our charity strongly advocates a closer working partnership between the voluntary and public sectors. One of the biggest issues we face is accessing some of the almost one million older people in Scotland who would benefit from our free monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties being held in their local communities. We know from countless testimonials that this small amount of time enjoying the company of other guests and our volunteers makes an immeasurable difference.

Contact the Elderly currently offers a vital lifeline of friendship to almost 900 people throughout Scotland. We plan to increase this figure to 1000 in the coming year but know this represents a fairly small proportion of the numbers of older people who are living alone, often spending many days without human contact.

A holistic approach to tackling loneliness must be adopted by all of those charged with supporting our ageing population. MORNA O’ MAY Head of Scotland Contact the Elderly The Acres, Kippen