Loneliness can be felt by people of all ages, but as we get older, risk factors that might lead to loneliness begin to increase and converge. Such risk factors include (but are not limited to):
Personal
- Being socially isolated or having no family or friends
- Being single, divorced or separated
- Living alone
- Being aged 75+
- Poor health
- Developing or living with a life-limiting illness or disability
- Living with a mental health condition
- Poor health
- Living on a low income- poverty
Transitions in life that can contribute to loneliness
- Bereavement, becoming widowed
- Retirement
- Geographical relocation
- Living in a residential care home
- Becoming a carer
- Loss of mobility
- Sensory loss
- Giving up driving
Wider Society
- Lack of public transport
- Physical environment (e.g.no public toilets or benches)
- Fear of crime
- High population turnover
- Digital exclusion