volunteer friendly-visiting programs, psychosocial “Gap in the market” group rehabilitation, or the use of technology for social networking are approaches that could be Most of the research, and interventions, on harnessed to reduce isolation. These types of social isolation and loneliness focuses on interventions have been effective in connecting older people. Much less research has been isolated adults to new network members, inducing carried out with younger and middle-aged feelings of “being needed”, and increasing well- being (Routasalo et al. 2009). people and there have been fewer evaluated An important target for the government is to interventions carried out with people from help improve the quality of the ageing experience these age groups. Organisations such as in the UK and make sure the impact of the Age UK and the Royal Voluntary Service ageing population is a positive one for citizens of provide a range of support for older people, 2 all ages. The UK therefore needs to consider as does the Campaign to End Loneliness. how to minimise some of the impact arising This gap presents opportunities for from risk factors of loneliness, particularly targeted, and much needed, support. bereavement, poor health, and housing tenure. This support could be from public, private or community services, or provided by family, friends and neighbours. The evidence suggests that we are conscious of our roles in supporting older people in our communities; almost half of us (46%) believe we need to keep in touch with elderly family members who may be lonely and 4 in 10 of us feel the need to keep in touch with elderly neighbours 3 who may be lonely. However there is still room for improvement in awareness of the scale of loneliness and its impact, not just in relation to older people but also as it affects younger and middle-aged people. It should be noted that the general public’s perception of loneliness among older people is much higher than the actual reported rate of loneliness. Even allowing for under-reporting, Dykstra (2009) suggests that the mismatch between people’s perceptions and older people’s experiences may well be an example of “ageist stereotyping”. Photo © Simon Rawles 2. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/future-of-ageing 3. http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/zk1wvpxxt3/ Independent%20Age%20Results%20101217%20Barriers%20 to%20the%20Big%20Society.pdf Isolation and loneliness 17