What do you expect at your age? Loneliness and old age

1. What do you expect at your age? Loneliness and old age Christina Victor, School of Health Sciences & Social Care, Brunel University E-mail: Christina.Victor@brunel.ac.uk

2. What is loneliness? Why is loneliness important? Loneliness & old age Presentation overview

3. Terminological in exactitude! KJV Psalms 25 verse 16 ’ Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted’.

4. What is loneliness? Cognitive discrepancy theory Loneliness results from the difference between desired and actual social relations (Perlman & Pelau, 1981)-either in quantity or quality of relationships (or both)

5. Loneliness map-Britain 1971-2001…. Based on 4 measures:- % single, % living alone, % in private rented housing, % lived in area for less than a year

6. Why does loneliness matter? • Reduced or low quality of life • Negative health behaviours (e.g. smoking, alcohol) • Negative health outcomes - Early studies by Durkheim link loneliness to mortality-50% higher for those lonely/isolated (independent of health status!) • Excessive use of health services-hospital admission, A&E contact,GP consultations ‘The Loneliness’ (EwaGawlik)

7. Loneliness and old age ‘’A distressing feature of old age is loneliness. All who have done welfare work among the old have found it the most common, if at the same time the most imponderable, of the ills from which the aged suffer, and its frequency was amply confirmed by our study’’ (Rowntree, 1947,52)

8. Understanding loneliness Source: Sullivan & Victor, 2012

9. Are older people the loneliest? Source: Victor & Yang, 2012

10. Has loneliness in old age increased? Source: Victor et al, 2009

11. Loneliness & ethnic minorities Source: Victor & Burholt, 2012

12. Care homes & loneliness M (care worker) say “Why you cry? Why you cry?” so I say ‘’I feeling lonely’’ ‘’ don’t, I don’t feel ill love… …I just feel lonely.’’

13. Temporal aspects of loneliness • 50% reported loneliness worse at night & two thirds at weekend (Victor et al, 2005) • ‘’I'm lonely of a night. ‘’(Man 16) • ‘’Of a night you're lonely’’. (Woman 12) • ‘’Such a lonely life … Saturdays and Sundays are a bit dead for me…’’ • ‘’So long [Sunday] and so lonely.’’ Source: Bennett & Victor, 2012

14. Longitudinal aspects of loneliness Source: Victor & Bowling, 2012

15. What is the point of loneliness interventions? To reduce the risk of loneliness evolving into serious long-term health problems To reduce prevalence of loneliness To improve quality of life To prevent loneliness from occurring

16. What loneliness interventions work? • Balance of evidence is that.. • Effective interventions: • Social activity and / or support in a group/skills development ; Older people as active participants & are theoretically grounded • No or poor evidence of effectiveness: • Internet training (group or one to one); One to one providing (volunteer) activities, support, home visiting