Loneliness is not a familiar problem for most public servants — but it’s fast becoming a priority. Social isolation in the United States has been declared an “epidemic” by Dr Vivek Murthy, formerly the country’s top public health official. And loneliness campaigners in the UK, Australia and across Europe say they face similarly concerning trends.

The challenge of dealing with loneliness is particularly acute in rural areas. Though tighter-knit communities can help reduce isolation, spread-out rural populations also make it easier for isolated people — particularly the elderly — to lose human contact almost entirely.

Now, a growing body of research suggests that social isolation is dangerous to both physical and mental wellbeing. Public Health England says that loneliness can increase the risk of premature death by as much as 30%, and lonely people are more likely to make emergency trips to hospital.

And loneliness is particularly widespread in rural areas — making it a driver of the urban-rural health gap. It can also be harder to provide support because of the usual challenges to service delivery in rural areas — lack of financial resources, a shrinking workforce and difficulty spreading across a large area.

But government can ease the burden, whether by introducing isolated people to new community groups or finding ways to help them reconnect with their own family and friends. Here are four approaches to tackling rural loneliness that have been tried across the world.

1. Shared meals

One of the main opportunities for socialising that elderly people in rural areas have is shared meals with family and friends. But as people move away, it can become difficult to stay connected.

In response, initiatives have sprung up across Europe to host shared meals for people at risk of isolation.

It's one of the main projects of the National Movement Against Loneliness in Denmark. In the UK, the People's Kitchen charity serves a dual purpose — reducing food waste by using ingredients that would otherwise be thrown out, and giving people a chance to meet others and socialise in the familiar context of a shared meal.

2. Men’s Sheds

Originating in Australia, Men's Sheds are a response to the particular challenges of male loneliness.

At least historically, men have been more likely to make most of their social connections through work. That means it can be difficult, in retirement, for them to socialise in a different context.

“Sheds” offer a way for men to spend time with others in the familiar context of a workshop, where they can work on individual or community projects. That avoids putting fear of loneliness front and centre, which can make it easier for men to engage without feeling the stigma of attending a full-blown anti-isolation program.

The Australian innovation has since spread globally. Thirteen American cities have created Men's Sheds, and there are now more than 400 in the UK as well.

This kind of approach reflects the findings of a systematic review of anti-loneliness policy, conducted by Professor Mima Cattan and widely endorsed by experts in the field, that the most effective interventions serve groups of people, build on a shared interest and give participants a prominent role in running the group.

3. One-to-one support

For people suffering from social isolation, joining new groups — even if just for a meal — can itself be a difficult step.

It may take dedicated, one-to-one support before lonely people are willing to take the leap into broader socialising. There are a growing number of different models for providing that initial assistance.

One major program is Reconnections, a service in the largely rural English county of Worcestershire, funded by a Social Impact Bond. Older people struggling with loneliness are given tailored support: social workers start by calling them, then visiting for further conversation, and aim to learn about clients’ lives, concerns and interests.

From there, the workers pick activities and community organisations from across the county which they think will be most helpful and engaging for the particular person. They can even go along to encourage the client on early trips, helping them overcome any worries about reconnecting with local society.

It’s a similar approach to Local Area Coordination, a program developed in Western Australia to help support elderly people and those with disabilities and mental health needs to remain engaged in their community.

Local Area Coordinators aim to become intimately familiar with a community — they typically work in an area with a population of under 12,000 — and the local networks and organisations which are key to it. That enables them to work closely with people to build their connections, recommending community groups and activities that are most closely tied to individual’s interests and desires.

After originating in Western Australia, the model has spread to other Australian states, New Zealand and, most recently, the UK.

4. Invest in transport and technology

A major barrier to social connection for many people in rural areas is simple physical isolation. So one crucial step to fighting loneliness is what the Campaign to End Loneliness calls “gateway services” — the transport and technology that allow people to reach family, friends and local community groups.

Tech can respond directly to social isolation. Call in Time, a national service run by Age UK, offers “befriending” by phone for people in hard-to-reach areas. Volunteers ring elderly people once or twice a week, and an independent evaluation found improvements in levels of activity and decreases in loneliness.

Another scheme, run by a housing association in 2014-15, gave older residents training in using tablets to access the internet. An evaluation of the program’s pilot found that 61% of those who participated felt they were more in touch with the world around them.

Public transport investment in general is useful for increasing people’s access to opportunities for making social connections. But where that’s not possible, smaller amounts of money can also be deployed to transport solutions specifically targeted at combating loneliness.

Special on-call transport services in Lincolnshire and Shropshire, England, allow residents to register when they want to travel and send a bus when demand is sufficient. The Shropshire service, introduced in 2008, saw a threefold increase in trips by older residents compared to the number previously taken on standard public service buses. — Fergus Peace

(Picture credit: Unsplash)