A careline for those over 55, Sovereign Assist,has been established in response to increasing loneliness statistics in the UK.
The plan is to deal head on with the issue of isolation posed by coronavirus for many older people.
The service acts as a personal assistant, problem solver and best friend.
The company quotes research by the charity, Campaign to End Loneliness, which says that chronic loneliness affects 4 million older people in the UK.
This situation has been exacerbated further by the isolation many older people have had to experience in light of social distancing measures imposed by the government during the coronavirus pandemic.
With lockdown restrictions beginning to ease, there is reason to believe that feelings of loneliness will recede to more normal levels as older people will be able to see friends and family more often, but this doesn’t solve the original problem. Research shows that loneliness and social isolation are harmful to our health. A lack of social connection is as big a risk factor in causing early death as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It is said to be worse for people than well-known risk factors such as obesity and physical inactivity.
Sovereign Assist claims that research also shows loneliness increases the likelihood of death by 26%. Furthermore, there are adverse mental health effects too.
According to the Global Council on Brain Health, loneliness puts individuals at greater risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
Andrew Fyfe, Head of Operations at Sovereign Assist, said “The physical and mental risks faced by those who suffer with feelings of loneliness are clear. We believe that there is a need to provide a simple and effective service, whereby we can offer general advice to help older, isolated people to connect with services that might solve problems they may be faced with on a day to day basis.
“Furthermore, we want to make sure they have someone to reach out to when they need to, even if it’s not for a specific problem. The population of over 65’s is set to rise by 8.2million in the next 50 years according to projections from the Office for National Statistics, a population the size of London. Loneliness is a problem, which is likely to get worse, not better, and it’s important that olderpeople faced with those feelings have someone to connect with, even if it’s just for a five- minute chat to hear a friendly voice.”
The paid for service launches on Monday 13 July 2020. Find out more here.
Sovereign Assist is an auxiliary of Sovereign Property Partnership
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
