Please join the British Sociological Association Scottish Medical Sociology Study Group to hear from researchers and practitioners about their experiences of and research on the impacts of loneliness on health and wellbeing, as well as potential solutions for more positive outcomes for citizens, in the context of Covid-19 and beyond. Short presentations will be followed by Q+A sessions and opportunities for discussion.

Agenda:

14.00 – Welcome

14.05 - Dr Janine Owens, University of Manchester: ‘Loneliness, social isolation and the use of primary care services’

14.20 - Dr Alexis Foster: ‘Using social prescribing to support people who are lonely: A mixed methods design’

14.35 - Ms Clare McBrien, Givin' it Laldie: ‘Music as Community’

14.50 - Dr Maria Törnqvist, Uppsala University: ‘The loneliest country in the world? Individualistic collectivism and communal intimacy in pandemic Sweden’

15.05 – Break

15.10 – Discussion

15.30 – Finish

Zoom link will be sent to attendees prior to the event.

Abstracts:

Jan Owens: Loneliness, social isolation and the use of primary care services

Over the past five years, loneliness and social isolation have gained political currency as terms that have become a ‘growing public health concern’ and ‘epidemic’. A burgeoning evidence base links loneliness and social isolation to an array of physical and mental health issues. One argument is that declining physical health leads to greater usage of health care services. For example, more frequent visits to the GP, greater use of primary healthcare services and hospital accident and emergency services. A recent meta-analysis on the association with loneliness and primary care use suggests that there is a small but significant association (Sirois and Owens 2021). Although there is a small but significant association, the majority of data analysed appears heavily biomedical and focuses on problematizing individuals. Analysis of the data revealed factors that remain unaccounted for, creating the potential for reductive approaches to people experiencing loneliness and social isolation.

Alexis Foster: Using social prescribing to support people who are lonely: A mixed methods design

Background: The British Red Cross established a national social prescribing service to support people feeling lonely/at risk of becoming lonely. Service-users could receive up to 12 weeks of support from a local link worker. The link worker would support service-users to access appropriate support such as community activities and social groups.

Methods: The University of Sheffield was commissioned to evaluate the social prescribing service. We used a mixed methods approach to understand the impact of the support on loneliness, and to identify the facilitators and barriers to service delivery. The study included a quantitative analysis of routine data (>2500 cases); semi-structured interviews with service-users, link workers and volunteers and a Social Return on Investment Analysis.

Findings: The majority of the service-users (72.6%, n=1634/2250) felt less lonely after receiving support. Additional benefits included improved wellbeing, increased confidence and life having more purpose. The base case analysis estimated a social return on investment of £3.42 per £1 invested in the service. Having skilled link workers and support tailored to individual needs appeared key. However, challenges included utilising volunteers, meeting some service-users’ needs in relation to signposting and sustaining improvements in loneliness.

Conclusion : Social prescribing can benefit people who are feeling lonely/at risk of loneliness. However, it is not appropriate for all service-users and there still appears gap in provision for these people.

Clare McBrien: Music as Community

Clare McBrien will speak about her experiences of the role music plays in tackling loneliness in the Gorbals Glasgow by speaking about the work Givin' it Laldie does. It is a small, grassroots community organisation that runs 8 weekly music groups for people living with dementia, living in Sheltered Housing Accommodation, children, people with additional support needs and disabilities and people living with chronic health conditions. We believe music and community arts are unique placed to allow people to relax and enjoy other people's company, realise their own contribution to a collective and develop trust of themselves and others.

Maria Törnqvist: The loneliest country in the world? Individualistic collectivism and communal intimacy in pandemic Sweden

In my talk I will address the issue of loneliness in the context of Covid-19 and beyond, by discussing examples from Sweden. Drawing on findings from my research on communal housing in Stockholm, I argue that Swedish citizens plausibly are more vulnerable to the distancing policies caused by the pandemic. This is not because Swedes are “lonelier” than others, a trope spread through cultural representations. Rather, an explanation is to be found within the (historically) strong welfare state. Social relations fostered by policies with the explicit aim of making citizens less dependent on family structures (and resources), encourages solidarities beyond the family. Bridge clubs, dancing societies and choir communities harbor what I coin as a “communal intimacy” (different from domestic or kinship-related intimacies by displaying a large degree of independence and exchangeability of members.) While Swedes are not “lonelier” than others, the shutdown of these infrastructures displays a social and emotional vulnerability that risks causing isolation and solitude.

Speaker biographies:

Dr Jan Owens:

Jan came to academia late, having worked in a number of sectors, before doing a BSc in Psychology and a PhD in Sociology. Fifteen years of lectureships at the University of Leeds and Sheffield followed, where a focus remained on disability and recently temporary employment at the University of Manchester as a Research Fellow. Jan has researched with adults and children with intellectual disabilities, paid and voluntary carers, young people in the secure estate, adults in rehabilitation units, schoolchildren, parents of children with medical conditions and life-limiting illnesses, and stakeholders in various projects on loneliness and social isolation. Currently, she is focusing on mental health research with the Resilience Unit after the Manchester bombing in May 2017. In 2019, Jan undertook two large-scale projects for the Welsh Government on loneliness and social isolation, fed into policy, then presented at Westminster on loneliness and social isolation.

Ms Clare McBrien:

Clare McBrien is a community musician based in Glasgow, Scotland. She facilitates songwriting and music making workshops in a wide variety of contexts, working with people to create their own music. This supports improved mental health, feelings of connectedness and the skill of bringing structure, understanding and beauty to difficult circumstances. Her work is rooted in a deep believe in music as a tool to bring about equality and as a uniting force against abelism, racism, classism, homophobeia and other forms of prejudice. She has worked with people in the criminal justice system, adults and children with additional support needs and disabilities, people experiencing homelessness and asylum seekers and refugees.

Dr Maria Törnqvist:

Maria Törnqvist is a sociology researcher and lecturer at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her latest project focuses on intimacy and solidarity beyond the family. In her talk she will address social aspects of the covid-19 pandemic from the outlook of Sweden, at times labelled “the loneliest country in the world”. Drawing on findings from her research on communal housing in Stockholm, she will discuss loneliness and belonging by linking the pandemic situation to the relational model of the Swedish welfare state. It will be argued that social relations fostered by policies with the explicit aim of making citizens less dependent on family structures (and resources), encourages solidarities beyond the family. Social infrastructures like choir communities, bridge clubs and dancing societies are, however, highly affected by the covid-restrictions and thus makes Sweden – world leading in single households – socially and emotionally vulnerable to the distancing strategies caused by the pandemic.

Dr Alexis Foster:

Alexis Foster is a researcher at the University of Sheffield with a special interest in how charities/community groups (the third sector) can support people through linking in with health services. Before becoming a researcher, Alexis worked in and with the third sector, developing and delivering support and community activities including for carers and refugees. Alexis started her research career in 2011 and has worked on a variety of studies including managing a trial of group support for people with dementia. In the last few years, she has specialised in evaluating third sector support for people feeling lonely including a national social prescribing service and social activities for people experiencing bereavement. She has also undertaken research on which methods can be used to demonstrate the impact of third sector initiatives. Throughout her research, she takes a participatory approach, being led by the needs of third sector organisations and their users.