Councils have been urged to locate local lonely residents and follow town hall trailblazers by developing isolation maps.
The study by the Campaign to End Loneliness and the University of Kent found a number of local authorities are leading the way in identifying vulnerable people.
These include Gloucestershire County Council, which has created a map of public health variables that could lead to loneliness such as age, living alone, not owning a car, being on a low income and reporting issues such as anxiety and depression.
The local authority has used the tool to identify areas with the greatest risk of social isolation and this has led to one district council setting up focus groups to get to grips with the issue.
Neil Dixon, joint strategic needs analysis manager at Gloucestershire, said: ‘Targeting local people who need our help the most is a priority for us in Gloucestershire and we are always looking at new ways to reach them.’
‘The map we’ve adapted from a model by Essex County Council means that we can work out how many people could be lonely and where those people need us most.’
The Campaign’s report highlights the initiative among a number of possible solutions including working to develop a better understanding among commissioners of the stigma involved in loneliness.
Laura Alcock-Ferguson, director for the Campaign to End Loneliness, added: ‘Finding people who are experiencing loneliness can be challenging, as they are often also some of the most hidden people in our communities. However, it is encouraging that, across the country, there are excellent examples of councils that are employing different strategies to identify residents most at risk of loneliness.
‘If local councils and services do not act now to find the people experiencing severe loneliness, we are likely to see the consequences in our hospitals and social care services.’
