Wednesday, 22 February 2012
The Campaign to End Loneliness, of which WRVS is a part, together with the Department of Health will be hosting a summit with the Minister for Care Services, Paul Burstow and WRVS CEO, David McCullough on tackling loneliness amongst older people on 15 March.
Loneliness is a pressing health issue. There is accumulating evidence that loneliness makes older people more vulnerable to health risks and directly impacts on the costs of managing the health service and long term care.
Gaining wider commitment to overcome loneliness could deliver savings to both the health service and local government, savings that would be so crucial at this time.
The summit aims to discuss solutions that can be deployed at a local level to reduce loneliness facing older people and to hear directly from people who are developing practical solutions to overcome the loneliness faced by large numbers of older people.
You can find out more about the event and how you can get involved here.
The Campaign to End Loneliness is a joint initiative between WRVS, Independent Age, Age UK Oxfordshire, Counsel and Care, and is funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.