Further research into interventions using new technologies to reduce loneliness in older people is recommended.

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Rural-dwelling older adults experience significant shrinkage in their social networks and capital due to transitions in later life related to poor physical health, mobility difficulties and bereavements. Being rurally located adds an extra layer of disadvantage. This article explores how older adults may use community transport systems to not only facilitate important social tasks but also maintain friendships and other valued relationships. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 11 users of a rural transport community bus service in western Northern Ireland. The interviews identified that participants viewed the transport system as a highly valued conduit for helping escape isolation, maintaining autonomy, and providing an informal space for relationship building and accessing local news.

Older people may experience considerable loss when they endure emotional or social loneliness. Emotional loneliness is related to the loss or absence of a confidant while social loneliness describes the discrepancy between the nature of one’s desired and actual social network. In this article, both concepts are examined in relation to new attendees at time-limited day center reablement programs in Northern Ireland. Using group work activities, reablement programs aim to motivate participants to continue to live independently, often in the face of later life losses. Out of a total of 91 initial respondents (range, 61–94), 13 lived with adult children (10 of whom were lone parents). Those living with, or who had daily contact with, adult children had significantly higher levels of emotional loneliness at the start of their program, but not at the end. For this sample, reductions in emotional loneliness in certain cohorts of older adults who attend these programs have been identified. In conclusion, it is proposed that fourth age losses mediate older people’s living arrangement and may create greater vulnerability to emotional loneliness in those living with adult children. In addition, social groups may be effective in helping reduce emotional loneliness.

The experience of being diagnosed with dementia can be shocking. This may be compounded if individuals feel that there is a lack of signposting onto further avenues of support following diagnosis. This study, then, examines how social support is promoted in the diagnostic process. Using purposive sampling and a grounded theory approach, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 13 members of a dementia empowerment group in Northern Ireland, discussing both their experience of diagnosis and also their subsequent group membership. Respondents reported both positive and negative experiences of diagnosis. Feelings of shock and bewilderment accompanied this process. Only one was able to identify a direct link between a medical professional and referral to the empowerment group, others being referred by other health professionals or dementia navigators. The study indicates that, due to disorienting feelings, one diagnostic consultation is insufficient to explain both the diagnosis and offer follow‐up support. Therefore, more explicit links to navigators or other services need to be made at the point of diagnosis to prioritise information regarding opportunities for social engagement for those being diagnosed.

Summary This article is based upon a scoping review of literature about older people and loneliness. Findings Increasingly in the UK, older people’s experience of loneliness is conceptualised as a public health concern. Social workers will wish to respond appropriately to older adults reporting loneliness but may react on the basis of keenly held assumptions about loneliness in later life, with scant regard to distinct subcategorisation of the construct. Exploring what an appropriate social work response may be, this article first sets out four misconceptions related to older people’s loneliness: that older people are especially lonely, loneliness correlates with living alone, strengthening family networks is best for alleviating loneliness, and loneliness interventions should tackle the issue directly. Applications A proposed model is introduced regarding social work intervention, focusing upon direct assessment of needs, the maintenance of meaningful existing relationships and, if required, potential introduction of new social support avenues. Additionally, it is recognised that a separate response to long-term chronic loneliness may involve psychological work addressing cognition.

The social needs of frail or isolated older people are sometimes aided by referrals to day centres in the United Kingdom. Since the late 1940s, day centres have had a role to play promoting socialisation in later life. Additionally, attendance at day centres is often open ended, with participants only leaving due to moving to a nursing home or dying. In this study, the views of those attending time-limited day centre programmes in seven day centres in Northern Ireland have been sought in relation to their thoughts about the service as well as how they feel when it ends. Seventeen participants completed diaries for the programme duration and/or engaged in an interview process. Participants reflected on the social and educational benefits of attending but also recognised impositions in the centres that impinged upon individual choices and also the length of time they could remain. This study reveals that, in order to maintain socialisation, time-limited programmes must have clear follow-on strategies for participants. Additionally, respondents’ experiences reflect that a paternalistic model of care delivery remains in place that, whilst restrictive, reveals that access to the service is more specialised and not universal. Nevertheless, should day centres wish to remain relevant, it is important that service users are fully consulted about their desires and choices within the setting.