Helping elderly tackle loneliness A new report has called on the government to do more to tackle the issue of loneliness, which is becoming a serious health issue, affecting one in ten older people in Goole. The Local Government Association said there is thought to be more than one million people aged over 65 who are lonely – around 10-13 per cent of older people. In addition to the personal suffering caused, loneliness is heaping pressure on council and health services, as it is often the tipping point for referrals to adult social care and cause for a significant number of GP visits. More than three quarters of GPs say they see between one and five lonely people a day. Loneliness, which in the past may have been viewed as a trivial matter, is a serious condition that can severely affect a person's mental and physical health, and increase the risk of premature death by 30 per cent. Research shows loneliness can be more harmful than smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

East Riding of Yorkshire has a higher than average population of those in retirement age, with 23.8% of people in our region aged over 65 compared to 17.6% across England. Of those aged over 65, one in ten, or 6,942 are estimated to live with depression - which is expected to rise to 9,513 people by 2030. With one in five people in Goole aged 65 or over, problems stemming from loneliness are common in the town. Les Rogers, who runs the ‘Time of Your Life’ project at the Courtyard in Goole, believes the problem may get worse as the percentage of older people continues to rise, but that there are simple preventative measures that can be taken to tackle loneliness in older people. Mr Rogers explained how older people can begin to feel lonely: “Loneliness is different to isolation, as people can be lonely without being isolated, it’s a state of mind.

“People often find themselves feeling lonely after a change in circumstances - maybe they’ve had a bereavement, or their family has moved away, or they may have been diagnosed with a medical condition such as Parkinson’s disease, they may have retired to a quiet area with their husband or wife and their partner may have died.” According to Mr Rogers, loneliness can be something older people feel at different times. He said: “It can be transient - such as only happening on a weekend, especially on a Sunday when many people are left with nothing to do, when shops are closed and there is less public transport. “Often someone might have spent their lives having Sunday dinners with their families, but if their families have moved away they might find themselves quite lonely without their company.

“Having people rattling around without things to do can lead to depression - which can affect their health as well. Sometimes people will comfort eat because they are really sad, and others might miss meals altogether and find that they aren’t getting the nutrients they need, which can affect their health.” Mr Rogers believes that a lot of what leads people to become lonely is a loss of communication and social skills, as lonely people may not talk to people and socialise on a regular basis, it may become harder for them to reach out when they do need to talk to people. He said: “When you are at school and you have to talk in front of the class it is quite daunting - but over time you practise and you become used to interacting with people. Often people who are lonely just haven’t put those social skills into practise, so it’s important to provide social situations to help people build their confidence.”

The Time of Your Life project, which has been running for three years now, is one such community based project that supports all different kinds of people, including those who may be feeling lonely, by providing social groups, trips and classes. As loneliness can often creep up on people without them realising, people can often cope with their situation until a point - but they may have lost their confidence and find it harder to get out of an isolated situation. Mr Rogers said: “When dealing with people who are lonely, you cannot be prescriptive. Everyone is different. We offer services that try and prevent loneliness, we offer different things for different people, such as craft classes, day trips out, and gentle exercise classes. “Often, the people at the classes will make friends who they will then see outside of the group - they might go for group meals, but a lot of people will make bonds and make friendships from the groups.

“Sometimes they will find that they will keep touch outside of work - whether that’s giving them a ring or sending them an email, sharing things like photographs with each other.” Mr Rogers also recommends volunteering, at projects such as the Courtyard or the groups based there such as Home-Start or the Green Team, where people who may have retired can put their skills to work, or even learn some new skills. According to Mr Rogers, there is a proven benefit to social projects as a way of combatting loneliness, and he has seen many examples of people who have benefitted greatly through the work of the project, although the benefits are difficult to prove with hard evidence. Nevertheless, he believes governments and other agencies, such as the NHS, should take heed of the work projects such as ‘Time of Your Life’ are doing to tackle loneliness - to make the future brighter for vulnerable older people.