New research from Age UK has revealed that hundreds of thousands of older people are facing a ‘double whammy’ of unmet care needs and chronic loneliness.
According to the study, older people with care needs who are struggling on without help are almost two-thirds more likely to be lonely compared to those in receipt of at least some care and support.
Research shows that loneliness not only makes life miserable, it also undermines an older person’s resilience and makes them more susceptible to illness. Combatting loneliness more effectively would not only improve their quality of life, say Age UK, it would also ultimately help reduce demands on the NHS.
“The overriding purpose of social care is to meet a person’s social care needs but, of course, for an older person who can’t get out and about, a friendly chat – however brief – with a visiting care worker is extraordinarily precious if it’s the only conversation you’ll have all day,” explained Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK.
“Our social care system is in decline and failing to keep pace with our growing older population, leading to more older people with care needs going without formal help,” she added. “Now, we can see from our analysis that this is adding to the problem of acute loneliness among older people too.”
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