Satellite technology to help the lonely
SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY is to be utilised to help identify isolated and lonely individuals and connect them to the wider community, it can be revealed.
A new programme is launched today by the UK Space Agency to both identify vulnerable people and deploy an army of professional volunteers to assist them, including police officers, postal workers and charity workers.
These volunteers will form part of the Care View initiative which will allow them to monitor their local area for signs of people who may be experiencing social isolation, such as curtains always remaining closed or rubbish dumped in their garden.
Leeds Council is an early adopter of the programme, which is being launched today on socalled Blue Monday, the day of the year said to be the most depressing because of post-Christmas blues, dark cold nights and the arrival of credit card bills.
The Office for National Statistics estimates that two million adults suffer from chronic loneliness and, after months of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, experts are worried about rising numbers of lonely people in the UK, particularly among young people and older adults.
Care View utilises a new app
which allows residents to report signs of neighbours becoming isolated.
Through satellite technology, this will generate a heat spot on a web-based map of a town or city, pinpointing streets and homes where people might welcome assistance of some kind.
Dr Graham Turnock, the chief executive of the UK Space Agency, said: “Many of us have learned this year that pandemics can be lonely times, and that we all benefit from some amount of companionship.
“This application channels the power of space to help locate and give a helping hand to people in need of help. It may rely on satellite data, but its real power comes from the altruism of its users.
“Social support is incredibly important in times of stress, and I am delighted that this application we have backed is going to help to lift people out of solitude and isolation.”
The Government-backed app is launched as The Yorkshire Post’s award-winning Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic campaign prepares to celebrate its seventh anniversary next month. Research has shown that loneliness can be as damaging for a person’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Jon Hindley, of the public health localities and primary care team at Leeds Council, said: “Care View has allowed us a window into the sometimes lonely and isolated world of vulnerable citizens within our poorest neighbourhoods.
“This has been the catalyst to help people we wouldn’t have otherwise known about to reconnect with their communities, improve their health and keep it that way.”
The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, Amanda Solloway, said the technology will “empower our communities to reach out to our neighbours”.