York leads the way in 'ground-breaking trial' to prevent loneliness
The University of York has looked at loneliness among older people during the pandemic.
Last updated 19th Oct 2021
A simple form of talking therapy, delivered by trained support workers over the telephone, reduced loneliness in older people left isolated during the pandemic, the initial results of a new study has revealed.
People were contacted weekly and were encouraged to maintain their social contacts and to stick to a daily schedule, which included both routine and enjoyable activities.
The intervention developed in the BASIL-C19 (Behavioural Activation in Social Isolation) study lasted for eight weeks and was designed in partnership with older people who had direct experience of social isolation, loneliness and depression during the pandemic.
Professor Simon Gilbody is Director of the Mental Health & Addictions Research Group (MHARG) at the University of York and Hull York Medical School, and was one of the leads on the study: _"_When the pandemic struck we were thinking about how best we can use the resources we have to try and soften the impact of dealing with Covid.
_"_We quickly realised that the population was going to be profoundly affected by all the restrictions, and for some individuals they were encouraged to shield. We were thinking about the physical and mental health of older people in particular.
_"_We knew the people that we had been working with for years were going to be hit quite hard by the pandemic and being asked to be isolated. We put our heads together and thought of how to mitigate these impacts, and we've been developing forms of light-touch talking therapy.
_"_We designed something that really worked for people with the challenges they were facing. Loneliness is a big problem - there was an epidemic of loneliness before the pandemic struck, and we thought this would be amplified several times over.
_"_We designed a very light touch of psychological therapy designed around six to eight phone calls offered on a weekly basis. We trained up people to deliver those phone calls, and were aimed at maintaining some form of social contact.
"_This is the largest randomised controlled trial of a psychological intervention that's been undertaken in the NHS, in the UK and we think in the world as well."_
The preliminary results have now been published in the leading journal PLOS Medicine. The research team found that there was evidence of improved mental health, and a strong indication that rates of loneliness are reduced substantially in the first three months.
Professor Gilbody says they want to scale it up across the NHS, and prove beyond doubt that it has an impact in terms of improving mental health, and reducing people's perception of loneliness.
_"_We measured those within the trial, and this was a pilot scheme on just under a hundred people. The preliminary results from our research show - with some confidence - that we managed to make people feel less lonely with this approach.
"_We've produced the building blocks, and the challenge will be for policy makers and perhaps the Government to use evidence to mitigate the psychological impact of Covid"._