Welcome back to our blog page. We hope you’ve found it engaging so far, and we hope to spark your interest once again with our latest blog.
This blog will highlight the key factors relating to loneliness, those affected due to disabilities, the effects, the strategies, and policies implemented to overcome the barriers and social issues of loneliness.
Most commonly, loneliness is described as a state of solitude or being alone, as opposed to a state of mind. Lonely people often crave human contact; however, the state of mind can make it difficult to form connections with other people (Verywellmind.com, 2021.) Imagine the challenges that are faced by people with disabilities.
"Our Customers feel less Lonely"
In a survey by Sense, “Over half of disabled people reported feeling lonely, rising to over 3 quarters (77 %) for those aged 18 to 34”, (Sense, 2017).
A cross-sectional study, (2021), states that “People with a disability experienced loneliness, low perceived social support and social isolation at significantly higher rates than people without disability. The study also states that 'loneliness was highest among adults with a disability who were younger, economically inactive, living in rented or other accommodation, living alone and with low levels of access to environmental assets’.
A key factor to the rising number of disabled people affected by loneliness is the provision of appropriate services, such as the provision of social care and the need for social workers.
I know from my own experience that when I was having an assessment for direct payments, I didn’t find my adult care team very engaging, and the process and the support appeared very haphazard. We did get the hours for a support worker, though it took nearly a year, and I needed a lot of help from my work colleagues. In my own experience too, having a P.A enables me to get out and about and do activities and help with everyday tasks that others take for granted. It gives me autonomy, and if I didn’t have my personal assistant, I would feel very isolated and frustrated, so I am in empathy with people who find it hard to get out and about without help, and who, for whatever reason, feel very lonely, and who are lonely.
Tackling loneliness has been on the government’s agenda for many years, though what the government actually pledge, and what they actually do, are 2 different things. There was a minister elected to help support those who are lonely. The minister for this is called Tracey Crouch MP. (Connective society, laying the foundations for change, 2018,) In this strategy, there seem to be 3 overriding aims. These are, to talk about loneliness more in every day society, reducing the stigma.
The second goal is to imbed newer government strategies to help stop as many people from being lonely. For example, how we work has become more digital and solitary, so to help stop isolation, to bring together local communities by help setting up community gardens and cafes.
The third goal is to work in conjunction with businesses and voluntary services to fund services no matter where a person lives, thanks to the Joe Cox commission.
Fast forward 3 years, there have been 3 covid lockdowns and now a new variant of covid called the Omicron variant. Loneliness and anxiety are felt a lot more. According to lack of support is driving people with learning disabilities, (2021,) the HFT, a charity that supports people with learning disabilities found in their recent study, "60 percent of respondents want to be able to take part in social activities and make friends.
But a lack of support means those with learning disabilities can't go out in their local communities and is driving loneliness, Hft said
"Victoria Hemmingway, the policy and affairs manager of HFT does acknowledge that loneliness even before the pandemic was a chronic problem, and continues to be so. To help with the chronic issue of loneliness, Hemmingway believes that friendship groups and be part of a community.
Similarly, goals to tackle the chronic issue of loneliness within the disability sector as a whole seem to be patchy. There doesn't seem to be a common goal, because we don't know when the pandemic will end. The lived experiences of disabled people during the coronavirus pandemic, (2021), conducted a study on a number of disabled people of different age ranges, where they lived, and the quality of support, from friends, family, and services such as P.A support and social workers.
This study acknowledged in a small way that lockdown for disabled people enhanced their lives and methods of employment, (how they did their work,) though in the main, the findings were negative. It stated, “during the pandemic, participants have felt increased levels of shame and guilt about their 'disabled' identities and the needs that accompany them.
Participants' experiences and perceptions of being classified as vulnerable' during COVID-19 have differed markedly.
Participants have felt particularly vulnerable when receiving social and healthcare services during the pandemic.
Lockdown restrictions and other actions mandated by the government, aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19, have given some participants the impression that their needs do not matter.
In concluding this blog, it appears from the research that the chronic problem of loneliness in the disabled community has been heightened. People's physical and mental health has taken a battering, and the tentative steps to overcome loneliness have been delayed or maybe stopped all together now. It also appears that we live in a very uncertain world, and we at Ethical Recruitment Solutions can help in tackling loneliness by using existing technology such as zoom to contact more clients and speak to existing clients, we could have a phone, Zoom or email chat and we are thinking of other ways.
I’ve written in a previous blog that many of our candidates, as do I, prefer working in an office space, though with the uncertainty of the pandemic and the rules being set out by the government, we can't be sure when an office space will become a reality. Our Pathway 2 Employment Academy is available online with additional video and telephone call support. Talking to our customers alleviates loneliness for our staff working remotely and our customers who are shielding, a wonderful win win.
Loneliness appears to be an ever-increasing problem, at Ethical Recruitment Solutions, we promote and coach a positive mindset to our disabled candidates. We aim to help as many disabled people as humanly possible, so on this positive note, with kindliness, and a friendly approach, anything is possible.