Reducing loneliness and social isolation for people with mental health problems

Abstract

In this presentation,  Dr Bryn Lloyd-Evans will discuss the relationship between loneliness and mental health, and the current evidence for interventions to reduce loneliness in a mental health context. He will then present results from the recently-completed Community Navigators study, which involved development and testing in a feasibility trial of a new social intervention to reduce loneliness for people with complex depression or anxiety.

About the speaker

Bryn is a social worker, who has practiced in community mental health teams and residential forensic rehabilitation services in London. His research interests include: social inclusion and social interventions in mental health, and mental health crisis care. He is a Deputy Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Mental Health Policy Research Unit and the co-Chief Investigator of the Community Navigators study.

Reference

• Mann, F., Bone, J. K., Lloyd-Evans, B., Frerichs, J., Pinfold, V., Ma, R., . . . Johnson, S. (2017). A life less lonely: the state of the art in interventions to reduce loneliness in people with mental health problems. SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY, 52 (6), 627-638. doi:10.1007/s00127-017-1392-y