Increasing numbers of people are living with multiple long-term health conditions. As people age, they are also more likely to experience loneliness and have fewer social connections as a result of changing life circumstances. People who feel lonely or lack social connections (referred to here as social isolation) are more likely to develop additional long-term conditions and suffer worse health. People living with multiple long-term conditions may also experience increased loneliness. However, it is not clear how and why loneliness, social isolation and multiple long-term conditions are linked. This study aims to gain understanding of how these are linked.
This study will use information from 11,000 adults aged over 50 years living in private households in England to look at the relationship between loneliness/social isolation and multiple long-term health conditions over time. This will help us understand whether being lonely and isolated accelerates development of multiple long-term conditions or whether having multiple long-term conditions increases loneliness, or both. We will also interview people living with multiple long-term conditions (and their care professionals) to find out their experiences of social relationships when living with multiple long-term conditions. We will also explore their views on the processes that link loneliness/social isolation and multiple long-term conditions.
This study has received funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) School of Primary Care Research. The project is sponsored by the University of Southampton, and is being conducted by the Primary Care Research Centre.
If you are interested in taking part or would like more information about the study, please contact:
If you are over 45 years old and have been diagnosed with more than one long-term health problem (or if you support someone who is 45 years old and has been diagnosed with more than one long-term health problem) and might be interested in taking part in a 45-60 minute telephone interview, please contact H.O.Hounkpatin@soton.ac.uk for more information.
Professor Andrew Farmer (University of Oxford)