Our October 2024 Newsletter
There’s been more exciting news for the Campaign this month. We’ve got some updates below on the formation of our new Advisory Group, some successful bids for research projects, and all of our usual updates on work that different groups have undertaken to help fight loneliness.
As this newsletter goes out, you yourself or someone you know might have just settled into a new job, year of school, a course at university, or are simply just adjusting to the autumnal daily cycle. As exciting or cosy as this can all be, some of these changes or continuations of old routines can also bring feelings of loneliness with them.
As ever, we at the Campaign would like to remind anyone experiencing loneliness that these feelings are entirely normal, and you are never alone in the fight to live with these feelings. Have a read of the stories we’ve included below and think of this as a way of taking a breath and reflecting on all the work currently being done to continue the fight against loneliness.
What we are thinking about
The Campaign’s new Advisory Group
Since taking over the Campaign, our team have been hard at work formulating our new Advisory Group.
We’ve been working to gather a diverse group of representatives and advisors which can help guide the Campaign’s approach in the fight against loneliness, ensuring that we reach as many people as possible and support them however we can.
In our meeting, we had a fantastic conversation about what our goals for the Campaign will look like, and we couldn’t be more sure that we’ve picked the right members for our group. We look forward to sharing more details about our members with you soon, and meanwhile we’re seeking a couple more members to make sure we’re reaching as many demographics as possible. Furthermore, we also intend to launch an international advisory group, so please do contact us if you work in the field of loneliness outside of the UK.
Research at the Campaign
The Campaign to End Loneliness and the Centre for Loneliness Studies, both hosted at Sheffield Hallam University, have recently been awarded two new research contracts.
One of these involves working with Age UK, and the other with the Film and TV Charity. The Age UK project will co-create a new framework with users, volunteers, and service providers, to evaluate befriending interventions delivered by Age UK and will undertake a network wide evaluation study, and the Film and TV Charity project aims to gain an insight into the feelings of loneliness felt in the workplace by those in the Film and TV industry.
We’ll keep you updated on the teams’ progress.
‘No One Alone’ – A Salvation Army response to Loneliness and Isolation
The Salvation Army have launched the “No-One Alone” initiative, which seeks to help tackle loneliness though a useful number of resources. These include findings from research, stories, and tips and ideas on how to improve social connection.
These great resources were passed on to our team by a member of our new Advisory Group, and is an early indication that we’ve got the right people included in our group!
There’s less than 1 month until Befriending Week kicks off, which takes place between 1st – 7th November. The annual campaign celebrates and raises awareness of the positive impact of befriending.
Visit the Befriending Networks website below to find out how to get involved and download Befriending Week resources to help you take part online or in-person. You can also search #BefriendingWeek or #WythnosCyfeillio to discover more on social media.
The U-Belong Campaign seeks to understand loneliness at universities. The campaign has a great list of resources and provides a survey for personalised advice to help with loneliness in university students.
If you or someone you know has recently started university, or is returning, and experiences feelings of loneliness whilst there, the team behind this campaign have some great tools to help with this.
The Action on Loneliness team, in association with Time To Talk, have set up a tool on their website that helps find activities nearby to facilitate forming social connections.
The facility has just launched so there will be more activities and meetings listed over time. It’s possible to sign up and list your own event too, so consider helping this grow if you’re hosting an event.
Loneliness around the globe
Loneliness: Time for Medicine to Address This Risk Factor
Medscape recently hosted an interesting conversation between Dr Indu Subramanian, a neurologist at UCLA, and Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology and neuroscience, and the director of the Social Connection and Health Lab at Brigham Young University.
The conversation highlights the importance of using frameworks to identify loneliness in individuals seeking healthcare, and why this needs to be addressed by practitioners around the world.
On our reading list
This scoping review pulls together findings from 71 different studies to highlight key contributors to loneliness in adults living in long-term care.
This review provides a good basis for those researching loneliness, as many of the findings could be relevant to loneliness in other populations.
This study gives an overview of an early stage VR companion for those living with dementia.
The findings could provide an interesting basis for how different technologies could be use to provide social connection to those living alone or in care.
Developing a new tool to capture the nature dose to reduce loneliness and improve quality of life
This interesting study details the development of a tool which can quantify the “nature dose” of an individual – the different factors that constitute if someone has had enough exposure to nature. The paper describes how the measurement of a nature dose could help improve feelings of loneliness, as individuals might not be spending enough time in nature which has been shown to be beneficial in reducing these feelings.
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