Figure 12. Ranking of preferred support options General Always/ Target groups population often lonely & always/often (2523) (458) lonely (329) Speak to family/friends4837 42 Re-establish/more contact with family or friends392628 Join a group based on a shared interest372626 Become a volunteer33 22 23 Speak to someone who has same experience262529 Attend a course or class2520 21 Visit GP/health professional2527 31 Use website/social media to engage with people242628 Talk to people you meet in community241920 Visit a website for support2026 25 Get support from a charity1614 15 Atten a regular food based event 161212 Call a telephone helpline1211 11 Use a befriending service 99 8 Get support from your employer710 10 Source Q5: If you were experiencing loneliness which, if any, of the following do you think you personally would do to help you overcome feelings of loneliness? Base: All UK adults aged 16+ (2,523) / in each group Although these support options were also Who are the key players in popular among those in the research groups who tackling loneliness? are currently always/often lonely, three specific Understanding what effective support looks like options were more likely to be mentioned:and participants’ views of how they want support speaking to someone with the same ¤ delivered are useful for informing future support experience (29% among research groups and service design. When asked who should and always/often lonely vs. 26% overall)deliver this range of support, participants were visiting a GP/health professional (31% vs. 25% less concerned about who exactly delivered it; ¤ overall) though this is very much driven by they wanted help where help was given. those whose loneliness results from health The general public in the national survey reported issues and is not applicable for all groupsthey view communities and charities as having using websites and social media to engage the greatest role to play in reducing loneliness, ¤ with people (28% vs. 24% overall) and visiting with 52% and 41% of respondents identifying websites for support (25% vs. 20% overall), these categories, respectively (See Figure 13, but again this is something which is seen overleaf). However, the qualitative research as more beneficial by those with health or results would suggest that there is no rejection mobility issues. of other organisations and informal bodies playing a role – merely that community and charity groups are more strongly associated with public support provision. What kind of support do people want and how do they want support delivered? 43