Personal well-being, loneliness and what people in Great Britain felt were important issues; indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN).

In April 2020, a survey carried out in the United Kingdom found that since the lockdown was imposed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 37 percent of respondents aged between 18 and 24 years have experienced feeling lonely a little more than usual, while a further 15 percent said they experienced feeling lonely a lot more than usual.

The latest number of cases in the UK can be found here. For further information about the coronavirus pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

In the spring of 2020, approximately 53 percent of single people in Great Britain reported feeling lonely in the previous 7 days, compared with 16.6 percent of married people. The social distancing measures used to combat the Coronavirus pandemic were likely a factor in these responses, as less than ten percent of single people said they felt lonely often or always.

Analysis of loneliness in Great Britain during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.

Mixed methods tested the acceptability and feasibility of measuring loneliness, mental health and wellbeing in Sheds The collection includes information related to the project and documentation. The collection does not include research data. The project did not ask for explicit consent about uploading / archiving anonymised data. Collecting retrospective consent was not possible.

Over 1 million older adults are chronically lonely. Loneliness is associated with a range of negative physical and mental health outcomes. The UK government has invested in social prescribing schemes to tackle loneliness and its associated health impacts. Social prescribing refers people with health problems into community-based support and initiatives to enable group and peer support.

Men’s Sheds are one example of a community organisation with involvement in social prescribing and has an overarching aim to tackle loneliness. The Sheds aim to bring people together, to tackle loneliness through ‘making environments’, where men (and women) come together in a social space, doing practical activities (e.g. woodwork).

Working closely with Men’s Sheds, the aims of this project were:

To understand what is acceptable and feasible in terms of evaluating the mental health, loneliness and social isolation of members of Men’s Sheds (Shedders).

To explore different methods of ‘referral’ (e.g., social prescribing) to Sheds.

To understand the mechanisms, process and relationships associated with mental health outcomes in Sheds.

Methods

Mixed methods tested the acceptability and feasibility of measuring loneliness, mental health and wellbeing in Sheds, using acceptability questionnaires, outcome measures (loneliness, mental health and wellbeing) measured at baseline and follow-up. A subset of participants were invited for interview to understand acceptability and explore the role of social prescribing and referral processes into Sheds.

Findings

93 Shedders completed the first questionnaire, with 80% (n=74) follow-up completion and 21 Shedders were interviewed. The questionnaire and outcome measures were acceptable and there was an above 90% completion response to all outcome measures. Often joining a Shed was associated with significant changes to personal circumstances (e.g., bereavement, retirement, medical diagnosis) and the Shed provided space for a mutual exchange of skills and support, with valued male company. There were some positive experiences of social prescribing in Sheds, referrals worked well when there were established relationships and Shed-specific approach. Concerns were raised around the themes of ‘responsibility’, ‘we care but we’re not carers’ and ‘I don’t want it to destroy our Shed’. Suggestions for social prescribing in Sheds were provided.

Conclusion

Men’s Sheds create a unique space for men (and women) to support and share both skills and personal experiences in a shoulder-to-shoulder approach. There are mutual aims between social prescribing and Sheds to reduce loneliness and social isolation. There have been some good practice examples of social prescribing in Sheds, but many concerns exist and further evaluation is needed to enable a collaborative and community-focused relationship in the future.

Estimates of loneliness and personal well-being during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by country, region, county and local and unitary authorities. This dataset also includes outputs from regression models which consider the personal characteristics significantly associated with levels of loneliness and well-being both during and prior to the pandemic affecting the UK.

This statistic displays the results of a survey regarding loneliness at Christmas time in the United Kingdom, in 2018. Of respondents, 76 percent indicated that they enjoy spending time with friends and family during the festive period, while 17 percent advised that they felt more lonely over the festive period.

This survey shows adults reporting they felt lonely some or all of the time in the United Kingdom (UK) as of November 2014. While less than 20 percent of respondents from Wales and the East Midlands claimed they frequently felt lonely, over a third of West Midlands and Yorkshire respondents reported feeling lonely some or all of the time.

This survey shows adults over 18 reporting they felt lonely some or all of the time in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014, by age group. While the percentages did not fluctuate so much throughout all age groups, always close to a quarter of the respondents, there was a slight decreasing trend of perceived loneliness in the age groups between 25 and 44. The rates climb again with higher ages.

This survey shows to what extent adults agreed or disagreed that they feared being lonely when they get older in the United Kingdom (UK) as of November 2014. A majority of more than 60 percent of all respondents disagreed with the sentiment whereas 15 percent of those surveyed admitted to being particularly afraid of being lonely when they get older.

According to a survey carried out in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020, the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant effect on feelings of loneliness for people living with eye conditions. Over 40 percent of respondents who had moderate or severe sight loss reported that loneliness had become somewhat worse, while around 16 percent said that it made their loneliness a lot worse.

Loneliness outcomes for disabled people in England aged 16 years and over, with analysis by age, sex, impairment severity and region using the Community Life Survey (CLS) data.

Although research suggests Chinese International Students (CIS) in UK universities are at higher risk of suffering from loneliness and social isolation, limited research has focused on understanding what loneliness means to CIS and how they experience this feeling. Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), as an intervention that addresses maladaptive social cognition, is effective in reducing loneliness in university students (Teoh et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2018). However, whether or how well it works for CIS has not been studied. Using a Participatory Action Research(PAR) approach, we aim to : 1. understand how Chinese International Students experience and understand loneliness in UK universities; 2. explore how MBCT can be culturally adapted to meet the needs of CIS.

We interviewed 15 CIS (with optional use of images/photos) to explore their understanding and experiences of loneliness. The participants were then invited to attend a 2-hour MBCT workshop. Three focus groups (4-5 participants in each group) were conducted to explore the participants’ opinions on how to culturally adapt MBCT for CIS experiencing loneliness. Data were thematically analysed (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2019)

Three themes emerged from the interview data: Navigating feelings of withdrawal, isolation and disconnection; The journey of adaptation and belongingness abroad; Withholding feelings and preference for self-reliant, problem-focused coping. The themes that emerged from the focus group data were: The need to focus on oneself and find “inner peace”; Unfamiliarity of MBCT, and reluctance towards help-seeking; Preference for an efficient, practical, and collaborative learning approach.

For university support services, it might be helpful to: Proactively support CIS’s adaptation; Provide high-quality, accessible self-help material, ideally in Chinese; Help CIS explore how to balance the needs of self and others; Provide support programmes that emphasise developing skills and facilitating personal growth (e.g., MBCT); Consider changing the term “therapy” in the title, when offering MBCT (e.g., just “Mindfulness for Life”); Offer shorter versions of MBCT (Halladay et al., 2019; Chiodelli et al., 2020); Develop mindfulness teachers’ cultural competence so that the interventions can be more culturally sensitive and appropriate (having Chinese-speaking teachers would be especially helpful).

This project aims to: 1. understand how Chinese International Students (CIS) experience and understand loneliness in UK universities; 2. explore how Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) can be culturally adapted to meet the needs of CIS.

Loneliness split estimates on personal and economic well-being across time according to the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.

In 2021 and 2022, 40 percent of 15-year-old girls in England reported feeling lonely most of the time or always. This was the highest share of 15-year-old girls feeling lonely among the selected European countries, whereas the highest share of boys in the same age feeling lonely was in Poland, at 20 percent.