social isolation

Ester Ranzen, chair of Silver Line

A co-ordinated effort, bringing together care agencies and local authorities, to tackle loneliness amongst the elderly has been launched by the Government.

For the first time local authorities will identify areas where older people suffer most acutely from loneliness to allow them to tackle the growing problem of social isolation and its harmful effects, announced Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

By mapping areas where loneliness is high, better care can be targeted at those who need it most – including older people.

Research clearly shows us that loneliness can affect health – it increases the risk of heart disease, puts people at greater risk of blood clots and dementia, and makes them more likely to exercise less and drink more. Socially isolated and lonely adults are also more likely to undergo early admission into residential or nursing care.

The new measure of social isolation, launched as part of the updated Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework for 2013/14, is part of a package of plans to address the challenges of caring for an ageing population – including £20m announced today to help thousands of older people stay warm and healthy over the winter.

Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said:

“Tackling loneliness, by giving people better care and improved services, is another step towards making the UK one of the best places to live in Europe for older people.

“I want the highest standards of treatment and care in our hospitals, in our care homes and in the community – and that means looking at whatever is needed to drive improvements.

“We need a measure of loneliness to shine a light on this problem and to know what we are dealing with. Once we have this solid evidence, local communities will have new tools to come up with the right, targeted solutions to the problem.”

Further research shows that:

more than half of those over the age of 75 live alone – with about one in ten suffers ‘intense’ loneliness;
half of older people – more than five million – say that the television is their main company;
17 per cent of older people are in contact with family, friends and neighbours less than once a week, and 11% are in contact less than once a month;

As a result of this new measure, local authorities will be able to compare data about how lonely or isolated the people in their area report to be. This information will help them identify how serious the problem is in their communities and what action is needed to tackle it.

Laura Ferguson, Director of the Campaign to End Loneliness said:

“Loneliness is a major health issue. An effective measure of isolation and loneliness is an important step to improving the lives of the hundreds of thousands of older people who are chronically lonely. This national measure can only help those making local health and care decisions to prioritise loneliness as a health issue, and one that they will tackle.”

Chair of The Silver Line, Esther Rantzen CBE said:”Loneliness creates a loss of confidence, an erosion of self-esteem, so that the front door becomes as solid as a brick wall and as impossible to break through. Some older people told me that they have nobody to speak to at all for weeks on end.

“And yet there are many varied projects and organisations all over the UK, often staffed by volunteers, who could break through this life-threatening isolation, if older people knew whom to contact. That is why we are in the process of creating a special helpline for older people, The Silver Line, which pilots from the end of November for three months and will launch nationally next year, and which will offer advice, information and friendship. We will have an important role in linking callers to the existing services in their local areas and we hope that our high profile will enable us to reach people who are at the moment totally isolated. Our slogan will be, “No question too big, no problem too small, no need to be alone.”

Paul Najsarek, ADASS and Corporate Director for Adult Services at London’s Harrow Council said:

“The development of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework for 2013/14 has been a genuinely collaborative process between the Department of Health and local government. We strongly support the emphasis on the greater alignment of the framework with the Public Health and NHS Outcomes Frameworks – shared outcomes will drive the more efficient use of resources, and more seamless, joined-up care pathways.

“The framework’s focus on people’s experiences of care and support is welcome – in particular, a new measure of social isolation among users of care and carers will bring a renewed focus to efforts to support people to maintain the connections to their communities which are so vital to their wellbeing. This year’s framework marks a significant step forward, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Department to build on the framework in future years”.

This announcement comes as Jeremy Hunt revealed that thousands of people across the country will benefit from a share of £20 million of Government money to help them stay safe and well during the cold winter months.

Council projects will receive a total of £20 million from the Warm Homes, Health People fund. This will help them run innovative schemes to help vulnerable people keep warm and safe and prevent people needing to go to hospital during the winter months.

The new measure forms part of the new Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework and updated Public Health Outcomes Framework for 2013/14. The Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework measures the quality of our care and support, and how well that care helps people to stay well and independent, and able to play an active role in their communities. As the problems of loneliness and social isolation can affect everyone, not just users of care services and carers, the Department of Health is working to develop a population based measure of loneliness.

The updated framework includes:

Social isolation – a new measure of social isolation for users of care and support and carers, in response to the key White Paper commitment to address loneliness and social isolation (shared with PHOF)
Dementia care – a new measure to promote joined up working across adult social care and the NHS, to improve the quality of life and sustain the independence of people with dementia (shared with NHSOF)
Integrated care – a new measure on people’s experience of seamless, integrated care (shared with NHSOF)
Reablement – a new measure of the effectiveness of reablement care in supporting people to maintain their independence

One in six people in England aged over 50 are ‘socially isolated’, according to a new report.

They have few friends and little other social engagement, says the latest report by the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a project that aims to understand the economic, social, psychological and health concerns of an ageing society.

The ELSA report revealed that the least wealthy over-fifties suffer the most social isolation, with the wealthier among the same age group half as likely to become socially isolated, compared to the least wealthy.

The report suggests that much of the problem is caused by dwindling financial resources and that focussing public health intervention efforts on less wealthy, less healthy older people and on improving access to public and private transport for the over-50’s is likely to have the greatest impact in alleviating social isolation.

The ELSA project is an extensive research study that follows the lives of more than 10,000 English people throughout their older age and which reveals the complex inter-relationships between personal finances, social detachment and overall health and well-being.

Previous reports from the project have shown how social engagement is closely linked with long life and healthy ageing. The current findings come from the fifth report of ELSA, which is led by researchers at University College London (UCL) and which is carried out in partnership with researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the University of Manchester and NatCen Social Research.

One of ELSA’s goals was to determine whether measuring psychological well-being at a younger age could predict a person’s risk of later developing poor health and suffering an earlier death. Subjects were first visited in 2002/03 (wave one) and again most recently in 2010/11 (wave five).

Inadequate transportation for those over-50 leave them feeling lonely

Those who were recorded as having a greater enjoyment of life in wave one were more likely to still be alive nine to 10 years later than were other participants. The difference between those who enjoyed life the most and those who enjoyed life the least was marked, with nearly three times more people dying in the lower than greater enjoyment group.

Researchers also found that measures of psychological well-being that were taken in 2004/05 (wave two) could be used to predict which previously unaffected individuals would go on to suffer disability, reduced walking speed, impaired self-rated health, and to develop coronary heart disease by the time they were visited again in 2010/11.

ELSA coordinator Professor Andrew Steptoe, British Heart Foundation Professor of Psychology and director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at UCL, said: ‘These remarkable findings became even more astonishing when it became clear that the link between psychological well-being and long term health and survival was independent of other factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, wealth, education and baseline health.’

Women are more likely to become detached from leisure activities than men

The report also found evidence that a significant number of people over recent years have been retiring gradually, rather than abruptly ceasing work. Almost half of men and a third of women aged 60 to 64 years who are in receipt of private pension income are still in work; and these people on average work fewer hours than those who have yet to start drawing their private pensions.

Among those who have retired over the last decade, average post-retirement family net income fell to 72 per cent of average pre-retirement income. Those in the top quarter of pre-retirement income experience the biggest post-retirement percentage decrease (down 40 per cent).

Prof Steptoe added: ‘We also found social detachment is more common among individuals who never married or have been separated/divorced or widowed than members of couples.

‘Men, those living alone and those living in rural areas are less likely to remain in regular contact with friends and family.

‘Mobility problems are associated with a withdrawal from leisure activities and cultural engagement, as is losing access to transport.

‘Women are more likely to become detached from leisure activities than men, but less likely to become detached from social networks; while widowed individuals are less likely to withdraw from leisure activities, cultural engagement and, in particular, social networks than those in a couple.’

ELSA began in 2002 and visits volunteer participants every two years. This is the fifth biennial report.

ELIXIR

THE WORLD'S NUMBER 1 HEALTHY AGEING MAGAZINE

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