The Silver Line was the initiative by the campaigner Esther Rantzen, who recognised that many older people have been debilitated by loneliness.
The free and confidential line is open 24 hours a day offering friendship, advice and information for older people.
Ms Rantzen was motivated by the neglect shown to older people, made worse by cuts in council budgets for such services.
Statistics have shown that, in the first six months since this only dedicated helpline in the United Kingdom has been operating, there have been more than 100,000 calls to this service. This figure equates to approximately one pensioner calling every three minutes for someone to speak to.
Ms Rantzen commented, ‘This has to be a wake-up call because this is, and will continue to be a huge ongoing issue.’
She continued: ‘I have unearthed a huge problem…It is very distressing but that is why everyone needs to act.’
Loneliness experienced by older people is a reality for many, especially on the least expected day. Research undertaken by the older person’s charity Royal Voluntary Service (formerly WRVS) has shown that, for one million people aged 65 years or older in the UK, Sunday is the loneliest day of the week. For 13 per cent of this age group, Sunday is dreaded as it is regarded as a family day and they do not have contact with their family.
A previous study for the Royal Voluntary Service has indicated that the nearest child for 10 per cent of older people lives more than an hour’s drive away (40 miles or more), making that daily or weekly contact more difficult.
The research also showed that 33 per cent of older people missed sitting down with their family and 33 per cent of older people do not enjoy eating a meal without being able to share it with someone.
The facts on loneliness for older people show:
· About 3.8 million older people live alone, 70 per cent of these are women. (Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics, 2011)
· Nearly 2.5 million people over 75 years-old live alone. (General Lifestyle Survey 2011, Office for National Statistics, 2013)
· Loneliness can be as harmful for our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. (Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytical review, Holt-Lunsted J, Smith TB, Layton JB, PLoS Med 2010)
· People with a high degree of loneliness are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as people with a low degree of loneliness. (Loneliness and risk of Alzheimer disease. Wilson RS, Krueger KR, Arnold SE, Schneider JA, Kelly JF, Barnes LL, et al, Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007)
· Approximately 7 per cent of those people aged 65 years or over in the UK say they are always or often feel lonely. (Agenda for Later Life survey for Age UK, 2013)
· Half of all older people consider the television as their main form of company. (ICM Research survey for Age UK, December 2009)
The Campaign to End Loneliness, together with Age UK, has discovered that extreme loneliness can increase the risk of premature death by 14 per cent (compared to obesity which increases the risk by 7 per cent). We live in a nation where 51 per cent of people aged 75 years or older live alone with over 800,000 people experiencing chronic loneliness in England alone.
Jack Neill-Hall of the Campaign to End Loneliness does not believe that our attitudes towards older people has necessarily changed, but that the alteration in demographics means that there are more older people who are isolated. The triggers are and will continue to be bereavement, retirement, disability and poverty.
Best-selling novelist Jodi Picoult uses the focus of strong community in several of her novels. In ‘Change of Heart,’ she wrote: ‘What religion did for me went beyond belief – it made me part of a community.’ And in ‘Sing You Home,’ she wrote: ‘I wasn’t just born again, I was given a large, extended family.’
It is acknowledged that there are many organisations (such as Age UK) who are doing good work with older people; but it is often Christians who are at the forefront in this area with their charities and clubs (like Friday Friends at our church). Very often it is being part of an intergenerational congregation that is stimulating for older people.
We are told that we are to respect the older generation, which is linked in with our relationship with God – ‘Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.’ (Leviticus 19: 32) Although we are instructed to look after our parents the general principle also applies to all older people – ‘Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.’ (Proverbs 23: 22)
We should always give time for all lonely people, especially those who are older. They will always appreciate sitting down with them, whatever their capability of participating in any conversation.
There should be no lonely person in their older age, and it is the responsibility of those in the Church and others to eradicate this situation.
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