## Metadata - Author: GOV.UK - Full Title: Loneliness Interventions Across the Life-Course: Executive Summary - Category: #Source/articles - URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exploring-interventions-to-tackle-loneliness/loneliness-interventions-across-the-life-course-executive-summary >[!AI Summary]+ >- The "Loneliness Interventions Across the Life-Course: Executive Summary" by GOV.UK explores the effectiveness of various interventions aimed at alleviating loneliness and social isolation across all ages. The interventions identified fall under four core themes: social support, social interaction-based interventions, and psychological interventions. >- Social support interventions, which make up about half of the studies, include befriending, mentoring, peer-support programs, and social and emotional skills development. Social interaction-based interventions often involve arts, music, culture, and social activities aimed at increasing opportunities for social contact and growing an individual’s social relationships. Psychological interventions provide targeted non-pharmacological therapeutic support/treatment. >- The report suggests that there are multiple successful approaches to alleviating loneliness in the short-term, almost all of which target specific age groups or vulnerable populations. These include structured therapeutic support, social support that develops social skills, art and dance activities in community-based settings, and a range of social interaction-based activities. >- There is consistent evidence to suggest that interventions that combine social and psychological support, 8-12 week social prescribing link worker schemes, and government-funded programs that provide social activities and support through voluntary sector organizations, work to alleviate loneliness. >- However, the report also highlights the need for more research on loneliness alleviation for specific groups, including individuals at different life stages, ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+ individuals. It also emphasizes the importance of removing barriers to face-to-face participation in social prescribing interventions. ## Highlights - Charities in particular need support to gather robust and consistent loneliness data so that beneficiary needs can be better understood, services can be evaluated and targeted effectively, and the case can be made for investment ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haafmqagctmb81sgvx4nzvza)) - 1. Review objectives and approach ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haagaxxg0cajz55qjsaw8evh)) - Research questions ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haafppytv0wdcjh0bnrwztsy)) - ‘What is the effectiveness of interventions aimed at alleviating loneliness and/or social isolation in people of all ages across the life-course?’ ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haafpqfwasprv9tr4eka2h5c)) - ‘Is there an association between intervention core theme/setting/population and direction and size of effect?’ ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haafpqzps4ajtw3yswb2rkg4)) - 2. Summary of study characteristics ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haagav4pfaxyb66w6tw6v1fh)) - The ==UCLA loneliness scale== – the [UK’s national indicator](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/methodologies/measuringlonelinessguidanceforuseofthenationalindicatorsonsurveys) of indirect loneliness – was the most commonly used measure in included studies, followed by the ==De Jong Gierveld== scale ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haafrrc5eq8w5dvkw9q91z1p)) ## Interventions - The loneliness interventions identified fall under four core themes, based on their aims, core components and the mechanisms that lead to loneliness improvements. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haafry4strs39456he7ra5xx)) - **Social support:** Approximately ==half of studies involved social support==, including medium to longer-term and semi-structured to structured social support interventions, or projects that equip individuals with the necessary skills to facilitate social connection. ==Befriending/mentoring/peer-support programmes, followed by social and emotional skills development were the most common types==. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haafs6y7kzww9ys15ymzkwhg)) - **Social interaction-based interventions**: ==Arts/music/culture and social activities== with multiple themes were the most common social interaction programmes. They work to reduce loneliness by ==increasing opportunities for social contact and growing an individual’s social relationships== or network. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haafsm2nmntkg021gamaq8sf)) - **Psychological interventions:** These provide targeted non-pharmacological therapeutic support/treatment and ==structured therapy interventions== made up the vast majority of interventions. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haaft5f1ce61cv01hwa63p5q)) ## Findings on effectiveness ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haagaqa0csj0d804wry700jc)) - Evidence suggests that there are multiple successful approaches to alleviating loneliness in the short-term, almost all of which target specific age groups or vulnerable populations. These include interventions that involve: ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haag9cybc6xayz7edyw9rh1c)) - ==structured therapeutic support== and approaches to develop emotional and social skills ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haag9dk6f5jdam6z1gz5xbnf)) - ==social support that develops social skills through targeted relationship-building skills and discussion-based activities== ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haag9e14e3kfat8b737zdq7e)) - ==art and dance activities== delivered in community-based settings ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haag9g74j7758h52c6c7ng65)) - a range of ==social interaction-based activities==, including facilitated animal/robot interactions, food delivery and social and health promotion activities ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haag9hyvmsgtnk5y8dmt5n33)) - There is consistent evidence to suggest that ==interventions that combine social and psychological support==, 8-12 week social prescribing link worker schemes, and government-funded programmes that provide social activities and support through voluntary sector organisations, work to alleviate loneliness. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haaga9j1khmp4zt3vgjrkm6a)) ## Insights from qualitative data ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haagakzbwnk6rr2yez5zmq0t)) - Overall, effective loneliness interventions appear to target specific contexts and populations. As a result, contextual factors are likely to play an important role in shaping their success ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haagrdz43fm8refcse6a3ejx)) - ==removing barriers to face-to-face participation== in social prescribing interventions, including local infrastructure and health and mobility issues for participants ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haagrvs21xsktkqdxty2fj4n)) - In addition, there continues to be a knowledge gap in relation to loneliness alleviation for specific groups, including individuals at different life stages, ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ individuals. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haeeq9e1tawaeypznaxs9gz6)) - More evidence is needed on the ==nature, prevalence and severity of loneliness== among recipients of loneliness interventions ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haeer4e7dydfr9d76bpw5az2))