Health and wellbeing needs: Older people

1. Reducing loneliness and social isolation.

There is growing recognition that loneliness is a serious problem, with far reaching implications, not just for individuals, but also for wider communities, which merits the attention of local authorities. Whilst in the past, loneliness was sometimes viewed as a trivial matter; it is increasingly understood to be a serious condition which can affect a person's mental and physical health very detrimentally. Acute loneliness has been consistently estimated to affect around 10-13 per cent of older people. Apart from the general imperative for public services to do what they can to alleviate personal suffering and distress, there is also very strong evidence that loneliness can increase the pressure on a wide range of council and health services. It can be a tipping point for referral to adult social care and can be the cause of a significant number of attendances at GP surgeries.

Loneliness is a significant and growing issue for many older people. Its impacts are devastating and costly - with comparable health impacts to smoking and obesity. Loneliness is amenable to a number of effective interventions, which are often low cost, particularly when voluntary effort is harnessed. Taking action to address loneliness can reduce the need for health and care services in future.

Local.gov.uk: Combating loneliness, a guide for local authorities

2. Improving independence and quality of life.
3. Digital inclusion to evolve as a cross-cutting theme in supporting older people to ensure they are aware of the positive health benefits of getting online in communicating, shopping, ordering prescriptions, making appointments, comparison sites, banking or job applications.
4.  As society ages, health and social care services become even more important. The Government must fund and integrate them properly so councils can ensure they meet the needs of older people and that users experience a seamless and coordinated response to reduce demand for expensive reactive, emergency or institutional services. (Ageing: The Silver Lining. June 2015)
5.   South Tyneside should maintain commitments to addressing fuel poverty, falls prevention and reducing excess winter deaths evident in the 2013/16 JSNA. Falls prevention promotion needs to be emphasised across the system including supporting people to discuss falls at primary care level and encouraging the wider disclosure of falls. Investment in warm homes initiatives aimed at vulnerable older people in socially and economically disadvantaged households should be maintained to reduce fuel poverty and avoid increase levels of excess winter deaths.