References
Compassionate communities and collective memory: a conceptual framework to address the epidemic of loneliness
Abstract
In recent years, tackling loneliness has become the focus of increased scholarly debate, social intervention and the development of international policy. One response to the ‘epidemic of loneliness' has been the development of the compassionate communities model. The diversity of compassionate communities approaches has led to scholars such as Allan Kellehear (2005; 2017) to highlight a lack of a cohesive underpinning theory to support and drive policy development. In this paper, we propose the use of ‘collective memory’ as a novel approach to linking loneliness, memory and identity in a way that draws out conceptual links between the role compassionate communities play in tackling social isolation and loneliness. We suggest that the service-led approach that seeks to identify and transpose strategies from one community to another is ineffective; instead, we emphasise the need to develop bespoke community-centred models that can be used by community nurses.
It is estimated that in the UK, there are 1.2 million chronically lonely older people, and approximately 500 000 of these individuals do not see or speak to anyone for at least 5 or 6 days a week (Age UK, 2016). The chronic loneliness epidemic is not unique to the UK. It is being increasingly recognised as a growing global public health crisis as the world's population ages and social isolation increases (American Association of Retired Persons, 2010; Vozikaki et al, 2017). The effects of loneliness and social isolation on a person's health and wellbeing are well-documented (Cattan et al, 2005). Loneliness has been found to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, depression and mortality (McDaid et al, 2017). It is commonly cited as being as bad for a person's health as being obese or smoking 15 cigarettes a day (Holt-Lunstad et al, 2010). In addition to the cost to the individual, loneliness has an economic impact on health and social care services. A study by researchers at the London School of Economics calculated the economic cost of ‘an epidemic of loneliness’ to be £6000 per person per year in health and social care (McDaid et al, 2017).
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