Scotland is facing a loneliness epidemic, a shock parliamentary report has warned.
Isolation is damaging the health of older people and increasing the risk of dementia, according to the report by the Scottish Parliament’s equality committee.
The group of MSPs behind the report have now demanded urgent action on the issue – and have cited an Aberdeenshire-based project as an example of how to engage more with lonely people in society.
The Signposting ‘Out and About’ program is praised in the report for helping tackle isolation and some of the mental health issues that can cause.
Margaret McCulloch MSP, convener of the Equal Opportunities Committee, said: “The report highlights the stigma people currently face, and how difficult it is to admit to loneliness.
“Whatever your age, it is unacceptable to feel you cannot seek help. The health impact in Scotland is too great. But currently a lack of awareness of the impact of isolation allows it to be ignored.”
Karen Nicoll, the chief officer for Signposting, said the key to tackling isolation was making older people relax in social settings so they can better build relationships.
She said: “Out and About was founded in 2012 for older people who are socially isolated.
“It has been extremely successful.
“The groups direct themselves, there’s no preparation of it. They just meet for a coffee and a chat. It has been really successful as a way of helping people who were very isolated make friends.”
Isolation is such a serious problem in Aberdeenshire that Ms Nicoll said it accounted for three-quarters of incidents the charity dealt with.
She said: “The largest Out and About group is in Inverurie where we have 18-25 members.
“We worked with 292 people last year and by far the biggest issue was isolation – it was in 220 of the cases that we dealt with.
“We work very hard and there are only 10 of us. The staff are extremely committed and work very hard – we are here because of the work that they do.”
Ms McCulloch now hopes that projects like Signposting ‘Out and About’ can be replicated across the country.
She said: “Social isolation and loneliness is a considerable problem in Scotland and individual citizens, public services and the Scottish Government must take collective responsibility to tackle the situation.”