Priority 1
Loneliness, social isolation and digital inclusion
Social restrictions, including local and national lockdowns have been a vital pillar of the public health strategies to target the spread of Covid-19. But they put a dramatic strain on the public’s mental health.
Social isolation was the highest ranked theme in our listening campaign, with a third of responses citing the negative impact it has had on their mental health. Many respondents to our survey experienced feelings of powerlessness (81 per cent), isolation (78 per cent) and loneliness (76 per cent) since the start of the pandemic. These feelings were particularly prominent among respondents aged 18-34, with more than 90 percent experiencing some degree of loneliness, isolation and powerlessness.
This echoes national trends showing that the mental health toll of missed contact with family, friends and colleagues. The pandemic has exacerbated existing feelings of loneliness and isolation especially for parents, carers, older people and those who have been bereaved.
This is important because social isolation and loneliness are often linked to mental health problems including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. They can also be barriers to accessing care.
The impact on well-being from people at risk of loneliness is likely to be compounded by other economic and social impacts experienced by the same people, such as those experiencing job losses and health anxieties.
What our communities asked for:
NHS and local authorities to:
1.1 Support and resource a Mental Health Champions programme
1.2 Develop a social isolation, loneliness and digital inclusion strategy in your borough
What we are doing:
1.1 Launching the Mental Health Champions programme
Since the Community Summit in June 2021, we have developed the programme’s flagship Champions programme, which underpins the work of South London Listens in building mental health understanding, awareness and engagement.
The Champions programme will develop the capability and capacity of community and voluntary organisations to support the well-being of local people to strengthen collaborations between health services and voluntary organisations. It has three core elements:
1. Mental Health Champions
Through the next two years, our ambition is to train at least 400 leaders across south London. Mental Health Champions will receive special training from the Mental Health Promotion Team at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. It could be as simple as taking the time to listen to someone who is stressed or anxious and passing on techniques to help them manage their feelings, to directing those with more serious problems to where they can get professional help.
Champions will report back on the trends and themes affecting their communities. By continually listening to this feedback and identifying issues early, we will be able to proactively design and deliver services that meet their needs.
2. Be Well Hubs
Working with our Mental Health Champions, we are supporting the development of over 60 mental health and well-being hubs across south London. These hubs will be spaces both in physical and virtual format – which will be places for local people to turn to when they feel their mental health is low or simply to feel more connected with their local community.
Hubs will be hosted by existing networks of relationships and will be able to translate material so that it is culturally relevant for users. Importantly, these hubs will provide a way for communities to look after their own well-being and have an ongoing relationship with their local mental health trust – with regular listening events to share learnings and to feed back into mental health service planning and development.
3. Mental Health Activists
To build on the incredible engagement we’ve seen with South London Listens, we will create thousands of mental health activists. They will help to ensure that mental health remains a priority locally, raising awareness and promoting mental well-being at community events and meetings. Our Activists will be empowered with knowledge, local resources and links with NHS services to give initial first step support, acting as sign posters.
As part of this work, we will also build on South London Listens’ engagement with local MPs and Councillors to provide mental health awareness sessions for elected officials across south London to enable them to better serve their communities’ mental health needs.
1.2 Tackling loneliness, social isolation and digital inclusion.
Since the pandemic hit, South London Listens partners have been working to respond to the significant challenges of loneliness, social isolation and digital exclusion at a local level.
Across the Boroughs, led by local authorities, important work is underway to develop local strategic responses. South London Listens is committed to supporting this work – we will be working with our partners to monitor and share best practice of work underway.
“A key focus for Lambeth now and into the future is tackling systemic health inequalities and this will continue, more so than ever, as we emerge from or live with the pandemic. We are proud to sign up to the full range of pledges and play our role, alongside our partners, in supporting our communities’ mental health and well-being.”
— Councillor Lucy Caldicott, Lambeth Council’s member for health and social care
“The voice of our communities couldn’t have been clearer and access to services will be one of our top priorities. I’m also very proud that Lewisham will be supporting the Mental Health Champions programme and developing a digital and local isolation strategy to help Lewisham residents recover from the pandemic.”
— Councillor Chris Best, Lewisham Council’s member for health and adult social care