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1) Alone But Together - Connecting Through Storytelling
2) Fit as a Fiddle
3) Social Isolation Index
4) Evaluation of Get Moving
5) Social Isolation and Loneliness: Understanding the Difference
6) Evaluation of The British Red Cross Community Connectors Programme
7) Understanding Barriers to Connection for People Experiencing Loneliness at Key Life Transitions
8) Understanding Barriers faced by BAME Community Members in accessing Loneliness Services
9) Evaluation of Time to Shine
10) Reducing Loneliness through the built environment
11) A Review of the Impact of Loneliness and Social Isolation on Health and Well-being
12) A Review of Key Mechanisms in Intergenerational Practices and their Effectiveness at Reducing Loneliness and Social Isolation
13) How can loneliness and social isolation be reduced among migrant and minority ethnic people?
14) Social Isolation and Loneliness in Care Homes
15) Social Connection, Isolation and Loneliness
16) Self-Perceptions, Emotions and Loneliness

Alone But Together - Connecting Through Storytelling

We’ve all been affected by isolation since Covid-19 and this project aimed to encourage reconnection through the sharing of experiences. We captured the diverse stories of staff, students and research partners at the Centre for Loneliness Studies and asked people to contribute a piece of art, such as a zine, poem, drawing, painting, piece of writing, short video, or audio clip telling us about their experiences of isolation. The contributions were curated and shared in a blog post at the Centre for Loneliness Studies.

See our first contribution - a short film about people's experiences of loneliness during the' lockdown'.

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Fit as a Fiddle

Project Co-ordinators: Andrea Wigfield, with Erica Kispeter and Sarah Alden
Funding: Age UK

This project involved the evaluation of Age UK’s Fit as a Fiddle programme which ran from January 2014 to June 2015. The programme involved three connected projects: Fit for the Future, Cascade Training and Dementia Friendly communities. We evaluated these through the quantitative analysis of data collected in a longitudinal survey of participants, case studies, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. The Fit for the Future project, funded by Age UK, had a range of benefits for older people who participated in it, including an enhancement of their social connections.

Associated Links and Publications

• Fit for the Future
• Age UK's Cascade Training
• Age UK's Dementia Friendly Programme
• Age UK's Fit for the Future: project 'Social Prescribing' Extension Project

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Social Isolation Index

Project Co-ordinators: Andrea Wigfield with Sarah Alden
Funding: Leeds City Council

It has long been recognised that becoming socially isolated can have detrimental effects on a person’s physical and mental health. To help identify those most at risk, an index representing social isolation amongst older people in Leeds was created by Leeds City Council. This project involved sense testing the Social Isolation Index.

Associated Links and Publications

• Assessing the Effectiveness of Social Indices to Measure the Prevalence of Social Isolation in Neighbourhoods: A Qualitative sense Check of an Index in a Northern English City.

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Evaluation of Get Moving

Project Co-ordinators: Andrea Wigfield with Sarah Alden
Funding: Greater London Authority

Get Moving was an eight month initiative funded by the Greater London Authority which aimed to reduce the social isolation of older people in Greater London through supporting activities delivered by community organisations. This evaluation explored the extent to which the interventions were successful through a two stage survey of participants and range of stakeholder interviews.

Associated Links and Publications

• Get Moving: Pilot Scheme Review

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Social Isolation and Loneliness: Understanding the Difference

Project Co-ordinators: Andrea Wigfield with Sarah Alden
Funding: Age UK

This project involved a review of literature to explore the links between social isolation and loneliness and formed the basis of the development of a new conceptual frame work for understanding social relationships and loneliness.

Associated Links and Publications:

• Loneliness and Isolation: Understanding the Difference and Why it Matters
• Developing a New Conceptual Framework of Meaningful Interaction for Understanding Social Isolation and Loneliness

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Evaluation of The British Red Cross Community Connectors Programme

Project Co-ordinators: Annette Haywood, with Ellie Haywood, Alexis Foster, Jill Thompson, Steven Arriss, Ellie Holding and Robert Akapiro
Funding:The British Red Cross

The British Red Cross Community Connectors Programme aims to reduce the social isolation and loneliness of a range of groups, including: young new mums (aged 18-24); individuals with mobility limitations; individuals with health issues; individuals who are recently divorced or separated; individuals living without children at home and retirees; and the recently bereaved. The evaluation aimed to capture learning about what works and why through a mixed method approach, including a two phase survey, social return on investment analysis, one to one interviews, focus groups and case studies using participatory mapping methods The programme ran from July 2017 to February 2019.

Associated Publications and Links

• Community Connectors Report

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Understanding Barriers to Connection for People Experiencing Loneliness at Key Life Transitions

Project Co-ordinator: Andrea Wigfield with Royce Turner and Dave Clayton
Funding: British Red Cross and Co-op partnership

This study aimed to explore, qualitatively, the experiences of people who are lonely going through two key life transitions: health and bereavement. Individuals from BAME (Black Asian and Minority Ethnic), as well as White British, communities were studied to assess the interplay of triggers of loneliness with the aim of unpicking specific barriers to connection in various localities in the UK.

Associated Publications and Links

• Triggers Report

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Understanding Barriers faced by BAME Community Members in accessing Loneliness Services

Project Co-ordinator: Andrea Wigfield
Funding: The British Red Cross and Co-operative Society

This study aimed to understand the barriers (and facilitators) faced by BAME (Black Asian and Minority Ethnic) community members in accessing loneliness services, identify ways in which service providers may improve referrals, and also influence policy change more broadly. The project built on the findings from Trapped in a Bubble, research commissioned by the British Red Cross and Co-op Partnership which focused on the triggers of loneliness amongst individuals. The research design drew on qualitative research techniques selected to answer the detailed research questions identified by the funder and research team. The findings will help guide policy makers and providers to ensure that BAME communities are better enabled to benefit from service provision that can support those who are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, loneliness.

Associated Publications and Links

• Barriers to Belonging
• Service Report

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Evaluation of Time to Shine

Project Co-ordinator: Andrea Wigfield with Sarah Alden, Charlene Martin, Ruth Naughton-Doe, and Anna Leyland.
Funding: Leeds Older People's Forum

‘Time to Shine’ was a £7 million, seven year, cross-partnership programme, commissioned by Leeds Older People’s Forum and funded through the Big Lottery Fulfilling lives: Ageing Better Programme. The programme involved commissioning a range of third sector organisations to work toward reducing the social isolation and loneliness of people over 50 who reside in Leeds, with a ‘co-production’ approach built into the programme. The evaluation study involved a mixed method approach of analysis of monitoring and survey data and focus groups and individual interviews with programme beneficiaries, volunteers, and staff. The evaluation results were used on an ongoing basis to inform the delivery of the Time To Shine programme.

Associated Publications and Links

• Executive summary of the Time to Shine local evaluation - Leeds Older People’s Forum (opforum.org.uk)
• Lessons from a voluntary sector organisation working to address loneliness and isolation among older people during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Evaluation of Time to Shine: Year 2 Interim Findings
• The Time to Shine Evaluation Interim support Summary: The Beneficiary Experience
• ‘A lonely old man’: empirical investigations of older men and loneliness, and the ramifications for policy and practice
• Time to shine case studies

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Reducing Loneliness through the built environment

Project Co-ordinators: Andrea Wigfield, Katey Twyford, Karim Hadjri, David Robinson and Malcolm Tait.
Funding: Business Boost award from Faculty - working with International property developers Lendlease

We partnered with Lendlease to develop a Loneliness lab to explore how cities can be made less lonely. The Loneliness Lab brought together business, government and civil society to explore how we can reshape and reimagine our cities to design out loneliness and isolation. The Loneliness Lab was an 18-month project to accelerate action towards making London a less lonely city to live in for many people. We wanted to know what it takes to create places and spaces that give the people who live, work and play in our cities the connection they need to lead a happy and healthy life. Starting in October 2018, with a week-long innovation ‘sprint’ we identified, developed and tested solutions that tackle loneliness and isolation in our cities. Over 100 people from 40 organisations have been part of the Loneliness Lab so far, including community groups, NGOs, Local Authorities, businesses, designers, artists, and importantly people experiencing loneliness.

Associated Links and Publications

• The Loneliness Lab

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A Review of the Impact of Loneliness and Social Isolation on Health and Well-being

Project Co-ordinators: Dr Jan Owens with Fuschia Sirois and Andrea Wigfield
Funding: Welsh Government

A Review of the impact of loneliness and social isolation on health and well-being and whether people who experience loneliness/social isolation have higher use of public services. This project was commissioned and funded by the Welsh Government in conjunction with a Welsh research company (OB3). UoS led on this work. It involved scoping the literature on loneliness and social isolation, focusing on increased or decreased uptake of services. It also interviewed 10 main organisations involved with minority groups in Wales. A meta analysis was carried out on some of the data from the scoping review and a small association was found between loneliness and increased uptake of services. The work suggested that loneliness and social isolation does play a part in increased use of services, but that loneliness and social isolation alone do not create the conditions for increased service use. Rather it is the way society and services are structured to take into account the multiple and competing needs of a diverse population. The work will be used to inform different strategies by the Welsh Government such as health, public and social services.

Associated Links and Publications

• GSR Report
• Sirois F & Owens J (2021) A meta-analysis of loneliness and use of primary health care: Loneliness and primary care use. Health Psychology Review.

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A Review of Key Mechanisms in Intergenerational Practices and their Effectiveness at Reducing Loneliness and Social Isolation

Project Co-ordinators: Janine Owens and Andrea Wigfield
Funding: Welsh Government

This project was commissioned and funded by the Welsh Government in conjunction with a Welsh research company (OB3). OB3 took the lead for this project and UoS reviewed the literature on inter-generational practices and their effectiveness at reducing loneliness and social isolation. The literature revealed that there were many interventions but many were short term and few were effectively evaluated. This reduced the strength of the findings.

Associated Links and Publications

• Intergenerational Review Report

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How can loneliness and social isolation be reduced among migrant and minority ethnic people?

Project Coordinators: Salway, S. CIs: Booth, A, Preston, L, Victor, C, Such, E, Ragavan, R, Powell, K and Hamilton, J.

Funding: National Institute for Health Research, UK (Public Health Research Funding Board)

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Social Isolation and Loneliness in Care Homes

Project Co-ordinators: Claire Gardiner, Merryn Gott, Tim Heaton and Pete Laud.
Funding: The University of Auckland

This project, in collaboration with The University of Auckland, reviewed the evidence base on the prevalence of loneliness and social isolation among older people living in residential and nursing care homes. This project took place from January 2017 to December 2019.

Associated Links and Publications

• What is the prevalence of loneliness amongst older people living in residential and nursing care homes? A systematic review and meta-analysis

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Social Connection, Isolation and Loneliness

Project Co-ordinators: Merryn Gott, Louise Rees, Judith Davey, Tess Moeke-Maxwell, Janine Wiles, Richard Edlin, Robyn Dixon, Ofa Dewes, Hong-Jae Park, Lisa Williams, Juliana Mansvelt, Tessa Morgan, Hamish Jamieson, Clare Gardiner
Funding: New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) National Science Challenge Ageing Well. In partnership with Age Concern New Zealand.

This project aimed to explore the impact of the New Zealand Accredited Visiting Service (AVS), a volunteer befriending service operated by Age Concern. The study used mixed methods to explore the impact of the service on loneliness, social isolation, health and economic outcomes. The project tool place between 2015 - 2019.

Associated Links and Publications

Te Arai Research Group

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Self-Perceptions, Emotions and Loneliness

Project Co-ordinators: Lambros Lazuras and Antonia Ypsilanti

A range of research has been undertaken on the ways self-perceptions and emotions develop and influence mental health in people with different loneliness experiences. This includes identifying variations in the experience of loneliness, especially in terms of the emotional salience or “burden” of loneliness.

Associated Links and Publications

• Ypsilanti, A., & Lazuras, L. (2022). Loneliness is not a homogeneous experience: An empirical analysis of adaptive and maladaptive forms of loneliness in the UK. Psychiatry Research, 114571.
• Allen, S. F., Stevenson, J., Lazuras, L., & Akram, U. (2022). The role of the COVID-19 pandemic in altered psychological well-being, mental health and sleep: An online cross-sectional study. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 27(2), 343-351.
• Ypsilanti, A., Mullings, E., Hawkins, O., & Lazuras, L. (2021). Feelings of Fear, Sadness, and Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from two studies in the UK. Journal of Affective Disorders, 295, 1012-1023.
• Ypsilanti, A., Gettings, R., Lazuras, L., Robson, A., Powell, P. A., & Overton, P. G. (2020). Self-Disgust Is Associated With Loneliness, Mental Health Difficulties, and Eye-Gaze Avoidance in War Veterans With PTSD. Frontiers in Psychology, 2948.
• Ypsilanti, A., Robson, A., Lazuras, L., Powell, P. A., & Overton, P. G. (2020). Self-disgust, loneliness and mental health outcomes in older adults: an eye-tracking study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 266, 646-654.
• Ypsilanti, A., Lazuras, L., Powell, P., & Overton, P. (2019). Self-disgust as a potential mechanism explaining the association between loneliness and depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 243, 108-115.

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