Learning through Practice: How Can We Address Loneliness among Older People?

Abstract

The rising incidence of loneliness and social isolation, especially among older people has increasingly been identified in research, practice and policy developments. These issues have become key concerns for public health and social care agendas. Although social isolation and loneliness are often conflated, they are not significantly correlated. The effects of loneliness and social isolation on physical, mental and emotional wellbeing are well documented. Addressing the causes and consequences of loneliness and social isolation is complex. This article outlines a practice example of a grassroots early intervention project seeking to alleviate loneliness and isolation in one community in Belfast, Northern Ireland. CLARE (Creative Local Action Responses and Engagement), a not for profit community interest company, provides a community-based response for isolated older people. The CLARE model encompasses community development worker roles and the skills of community social workers to support and grow community assets, including a vibrant volunteer base. CLARE demonstrates the effectiveness of a multi-dimensional model that addresses loneliness by encompassing three core areas of ‘foundation services’ as highlighted by the Campaign to End Loneliness. The strengths and challenges of these interventions, and their potential for addressing loneliness and social isolation are discussed.

Keywords:

• loneliness
• social isolation
• older people
• Northern Ireland
• community development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paula Devine

Dr Paula Devine is Co-director of ARK (www.ark.ac.uk), which is a joint initiative between Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University making social science information widely accessible to support civic society. She is based in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work in Queen’s University Belfast. Paula coordinates the ARK Ageing Programme, which supports knowledge engagement between the age, academic and policy sectors in Northern Ireland. She has been involved in the recording of public attitudes in Northern Ireland for over 20 years, and is director of the annual Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey. Her research interests include social attitudes; men’s health; gender; social gerontology. Email: [email protected]

Lorna Montgomery

Dr Lorna Montgomery is a lecturer in Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast, and is currently Director of Practice Learning for the social work degree. Prior to taking on this role, she practiced as a social worker in the areas of mental health and adult safeguarding and has worked in staff training in the health and social care sector. Her teaching and research interests include adult safeguarding, loneliness and isolation, bereavement care and mental health. She is also involved in research within family and child care social work and in particular in assessing parental capacity.

Mandy Cowden

Mandy Cowden is a social worker with over 25 years' experience in the statutory sector including a decade as a senior social worker in the Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast and more recently in the community sector. Seven years ago Mandy moved to a social work role within the Mount Vernon community to help engage in community-based conversations with older people, drawing on lived experiences, that eventually led to the innovative CLARE being established. Creative Local Action Responses and Engagement (CLARE) has now been delivering person centred early intervention support to isolated older people in North Belfast for six years. Initially Mandy developed the community social worker role in the project but has been the Project Manager for the last three years. She describes herself as a positive disrupter and is passionate about how social work can engage in community development and the need to design and collaborate across boundaries to make support systems accessible and meaningful to people who need them.

Fiona Murphy

Fiona Murphy has worked in a variety of roles with Civil Society and the Public Sector to create, innovate and implement positive change, particularly focused on social equity and human rights and currently leads the work of the Campaign to End Loneliness in Northern Ireland. She specialises in participative practice and experiential learning with continuous improvement, creative programme development and project management at its core. Fiona uses the combined disciplines of research and policy, marketing, legal and values frameworks and education pedagogy to design bespoke interventions, establishing and supporting networks and using coaching and mentoring techniques to encourage committed, embedded, co-produced solutions. She has worked at an international, regional and national level including using UN mechanisms, EU and Council of Europe frameworks and national contexts including the Good Friday/Belfast Peace agreement. She has worked in Senegal, Jordan, Vietnam, Budapest, Switzerland, Turkey and Armenia and published articles on cross-border education work in Ireland and community development and social exclusion. Previously, Fiona set-up and managed a human rights training programme spanning the Irish Civil and Public Services for the Irish Human Rights Commission.