“Loneliness: The Next Five Years”, Campaign to End Loneliness Conference, 8th February 2024

Reviewed by Vee Okobia (U-Belong Student Research Team member)

I attended this conference online, where I learned more about research into loneliness, and the “call to action” that organisations have responded to. The day started with a welcome message from Paul Cann OBE, and we dove straight into loneliness inequalities. The speaker, Professor Manuela (University of Exeter), discussed the many different loneliness inequalities, and mentioned some very interesting research into 2nd generation immigrants, and their susceptibility to feeling more lonely than the average person. Manuela, like all the other speakers, emphasised that loneliness can affect everyone, however her research focused on those who were more likely to experience loneliness such as migrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and towards the end, she discussed loneliness amongst those suffering from specific mental disorders (such as anxiety or depression), those suffering from long term illness, and those with disabilities. I learned a lot about these varying factors, and found it very interesting, especially since U-Belong actually explored some of these factors too. Things like unemployment, and socioeconomic status (SES) were mentioned too, before she dove into the multi-level analysis of loneliness. Here, she explored loneliness in marginalised groups, explaining that the interpersonal exclusion of such groups , particularly those who are “different” to the dominant group led to increased levels of loneliness.

After her presentation, we were introduced to many different charities and organisations that all had one goal: to reduce loneliness (especially in those who were most vulnerable to it). I really liked Re-engage, a charity that assigns workers to people over 75 (who may call or meet up frequently). They emphasised that those over 75 were in a much different situation to those aged 50+, as they are much older and have less people to socialise. Another highlight of the day was the University of Salford’s Student Union, who came to discuss our research team's topic of interest: student loneliness. There is nowhere near enough qualitative research on loneliness amongst students and young adults, but Salford provided some insightful findings, and reported that “most students aren't aware of the feeling of loneliness” which I found rather interesting.

The campaign to end loneliness is very much underway, and so many people are working together to make an impact. I'm very grateful to have been given the opportunity to attend such an important event, and I'm incredibly happy to see others researching the different factors that affect loneliness. Hopefully U-Belong can provide some meaningful findings and help come up with a solution.