Thread by @UoMPolicy

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Follow this thread for live updates from our excellent panel on loneliness, chaired by @aveek18, w/ @zabrams, @JamesEvansMS, Su Moore (@JoCoxFoundation), Prof Pam Qualter (@EducationUoM), & @Matt_VickersMP 👇

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP Prof Pam Qualter starts us off - "loneliness is a subjective experience", she says, which occurs when we lack good quality relationships with others. "We're not talking about social isolation", though loneliness has the same effects on physical & mental health

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP #COVID19 has put loneliness on the political agenda, says Prof Qualter (@EducationUoM), particularly for children and young people. Surprisingly, we didn't see a large increase in loneliness during the pandemic - but we are seeing an increase in social anxiety post-lockdown

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP Those most affected by loneliness during the pandemic were those who already had mental health problems, says Prof Qualter - with loneliness also impacting on poor mental health over time

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP #Loneliness is also associated with poorer academic outcomes, and lower productivity in workers. Workplaces that put on virtual social events during lockdown showed lower levels of loneliness among their employees, explains Prof Qualter

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP Over now to @JamesEvansMS, Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Senedd. 1 in 6 people in Wales experience loneliness, he says, with an impact on the Welsh economy of £2.6bn

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP Older people have been particularly affected by the loss of community hubs, adds @JamesEvansMS. He says a return to the "Big society" seen during the first lockdown would help to increase social interactions, and ease the burden of loneliness for those affected

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP He says a priority for all UK governments should be ensuring mental health services are in place in local communities

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP Hearing now from Su Moore (@JoCoxFoundation), who says their namesake experienced loneliness herself, and saw it in her constituents. The work of Jo Cox MP and the Foundation resulted in the first Minister for Loneliness

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP This year, the @JoCoxFoundation is focussed on young people, as an often overlooked group - 94% of young people have experienced loneliness, says Su Moore

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP While stigma around discussing mental health has improved, 77% of people surveyed said they thought there is still stigma associated with loneliness, says Su Moore

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP The biggest issue facing those working on tackling loneliness is the #CostOfLiving, says the @JoCoxFoundation's Su Moore

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP Over now to @Matt_VickersMP, from the APPG on Loneliness. He says #CPC2022 is a good example of how social anxiety can stop people from reaching out

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP One question @Matt_VickersMP would like to explore is how tech has helped or hindered loneliness, especially among young people

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP He also notes that providing social hubs can help take the pressure off GP surgeries - with positive impacts on both wellbeing, and the performance of GPs

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP Lastly we hear from @zabrams, from @BritishRedCross, who says they can call on 150 years of experience in tackling loneliness. She says they often see that those who are most lonely are also those who are most vulnerable

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross Work during and post-pandemic has shown that tackling loneliness needs long-term interventions, says @zabrams, in both helping people with social anxiety, and improving digital skills among vulnerable groups

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross The @BritishRedCross also works in A&E departments, says @zabrams, where they often see people with loneliness. Intervening here helps to improve mental and physical health, and to save time and money for health services

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross "We are so proud this country was the first to have a Minister for Loneliness", says @zabrams, explaining that tackling #loneliness needs a cross-government approach involving health, education, and more

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross She ends by calling on the government to keep loneliness as a priority

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross Chair @aveek18 (@SMFthinktank) asks the panel; how can we best conceptualise the problem of loneliness? Does it need individual, or societal interventions?

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Prof Pam Qualter (@EducationUoM) says it's important to remember that loneliness is universal - we've all felt it, and there's nothing wrong with it. But some people become stuck in loneliness

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank What is needed is a two-pronged approach - providing people with the skills to manage transitory loneliness, with larger, longer interventions for those who become 'stuck' in loneliness

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank .@zabrams says preventative strategies are needed across society, while some groups - such as refugees - need more targeted interventions to provide a sense of place and belonging

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank "We get stuck on figures sometimes", says @JamesEvansMS, but he reminds us that there are people behind the numbers - and interventions are only worth the paper they're written on when they can be delivered

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank For example, social prescribing doesn't work when community centres are being closed, says @JamesEvansMS, while third-sector organisations tackling loneliness at place-level don't receive the funding they need from health services

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Our chair @aveek18 picks up on @Matt_VickersMP's question, on the link between tech and loneliness. Prof Qualter says those who are actively engaged on social media don't report loneliness. The risk is among passive users, who don't use social media to connect with peers

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank [...] but instead have a strong feeling of missing out. These are the users most at risk of loneliness, says Prof Qualter

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank "TV can give people strategies to manage loneliness", says Prof Qualter, though she says that doesn't mean all TV is a positive influence!

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank .@JamesEvansMS says many young people live through social media, which puts pressures on them to look and act a certain way - and causes isolation when they don't or can't conform

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Su Moore says often young people don't say or think they feel lonely - but that doesn't mean they aren't. @zabrams says improving digital skills among vulnerable groups can improve loneliness

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank "Loneliness needs a social solution", says @Matt_VickersMP, with phones enabling people to hide, even in social situations

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Over now to Qs from the audience: what more can be done to ensure mental health remains a priority in the COVID-19 inquiry?

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Another Q: what has happened to mental health services provided pre-COVID that helped to tackle loneliness?

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank And one final Q before the A: what is one thing the panel would like to see central government do to tackle loneliness?

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank First up is @zabrams, who says a loneliness assessment would be a good step, along the lines of environmental impact assessments - policymakers should ask themselves what impact a policy will have on social connectedness

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank On the COVID-19 inquiry, @zabrams says the responsibility now is to build on the lessons learned, including around mental heath and loneliness, while services will always need resources - both public funding, volunteers, and private sector coordination

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank "It makes economic and social sense" to tackle loneliness, says @zabrams, noting that tackling loneliness in older people can save £6,000 in the longer term

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank .@Matt_VickersMP says it makes sense that tackling poor mental health and loneliness at source will have benefits for police and health services

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank And his one policy intervention would be to force people on the Tube to smile at each other!

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Su Moore (@JoCoxFoundation) says many children and young people feel that their formative years have been robbed by the pandemic, and require support going forwards

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Meanwhile, funding is needed from policymakers for third sector bodies providing help on the ground around loneliness, including community-based spaces, designed with users in mind

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Prof Pam Qualter says the COVID-19 inquiry should try to understand people's individual responses to the pandemic in terms of mental health and loneliness. For example, teenage girls actually showed a drop in depression during the #lockdown, because they didn't fear school

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank And Prof Qualter's one policy ask is around helping people manage negative emotions - "let's have a schools-based approach", she says, predicting a big impact on depression, loneliness, and social isolation

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Prof Qualter finishes by highlighting the work of Denmark in implementing their loneliness strategy, and says we have lessons to learn

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank And now from @JamesEvansMS, who notes that Wales had a longer, stricter lockdown than England. He says devolved regions each need their own COVID inquiry, not just a UK one, to interrogate these devolved decisions

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank And his one policy ask is for mental health funding to be done on Parliamentary terms, not a year-by-year basis. @JamesEvansMS says this would provide security to mental health services

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank More audience Qs: the mental health workload of GP nurses has quadrupled since the pandemic

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Q: What are the 'risks' associated with social prescribing, do we need to contextualise loneliness in terms of poor financial security, & is a cultural shift needed in the way we measure loneliness?

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank And one last Q: how can we ensure participation in arts & culture is part of the solution to loneliness?

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank .@JamesEvansMS agrees more support is needed for nurses, but funding is often lost at higher levels of health services. He says GPs and mental health specialists are keen to do social prescribing, but fear legal ramifications if things go wrong

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank And @JamesEvansMS ends by saying Wales has introduced a new curriculum which allows schools to tailor some courses to the needs and wants of students - he says this can help with children & young people's mental health

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank Prof Pam Qualter agrees that engagement with the arts has been shown to have a real impact on loneliness - she agrees that an arts-based programme to tackle loneliness is a great idea

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank And that's all from our panel! Many thanks to our chair @aveek18, and our brilliant panellists @JamesEvansMS, Prof Pam Qualter, Su Moore (@JoCoxFoundation), @zabrams, and @Matt_VickersMP

And thanks to all who've followed along online!

@aveek18 @zabrams @JamesEvansMS @JoCoxFoundation @EducationUoM @Matt_VickersMP @BritishRedCross @SMFthinktank A reminder that you can read more about @OfficialUoM's research on #loneliness - and recommendations to policymakers - here 👇

blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/tag/loneliness/