Promising Approaches

In October 2020, we launched our report Promising Approaches Revisited: effective action on loneliness in later life.

The report was an update to the seminal Promising Approaches to reducing loneliness in later life report we published jointly with Age UK in 2015 and presented an updated model for commissioners, local authorities, health bodies and third sector organisations interested in reducing loneliness in later life.

Promising Approaches Framework

The impact of Covid-19 highlighted the importance of meaningful connections for us all and signalled a need to update our framework.

Five years on from the initial publication and thanks to the work of many organisations, the report was launched with government loneliness strategies in place for England, Scotland and Wales, with Northern Ireland committed to developing one.

The Promising Approaches Framework works from what we understand about loneliness to solutions that help us to address it, as well as the approach across a community. Services which can make a real difference to older peoples’ lives include psychological support, one to one sessions, volunteering opportunities, volunteer be-frienders, group sessions (in person and online), age friendly communities and holistic neighbourhood approaches.

The framework approach to reducing loneliness helped local councils, commissioning bodies and service providers to explore the best way forward to invest in, and run, loneliness interventions.

Our report includes thirty-three case studies drawn from across the UK and a supplemental collection of case studies provide additional depth to the promising approaches springing up across the country.