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LGA - Councils respond to report on loneliness and isolation
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, the LGA's Community Wellbeing spokeswoman, reponds to a report highlighted by the BMJ linking loneliness and isolation to heightened risk of heart disease/stroke.
"With more than one million people aged over 65 believed to be suffering from loneliness, councils with their responsibility for public health see this as a major concern.
"Whereas in the past it may have been treated as a trivial matter, loneliness is a serious condition that can severely affect a person's mental and physical wellbeing, and increase the risk of premature death by 30 per cent.
"Councils are addressing this through early intervention, with a number of local authorities leading the way in partnership with volunteer and community organisations.
"Loneliness is an issue that needs our urgent attention, and something that will become an increasingly important public health concern as people live longer lives."
Read BMJ article: http://heart.bmj.com/content/early/2016/03/15/heartjnl-2015-308790.full
