A mass survey of care users in Aberdeen has highlighted significant loneliness in the city.
The Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership interviewed 452 people who use health or social care services in the city between July and September this year.
Yesterday, the results were presented to the integrated joint board (IJB), with concerns raised over the 16% of respondents who said they felt lonely “often or all of the time”.
However, most respondents said they only rarely or never felt lonely.
A report to IJB members read: “A small minority of respondents say that they feel lonely often or all of the time (16%) while a further 22% say that they sometimes feel lonely and 20% say that they occasionally feel lonely.
“However, respondents most commonly say that they rarely or never feel lonely (42%). Those that say they feel lonely often or all of the time are more likely than average to be under the age of 60 (24%) or aged 80 to 89 (21%).”
Aberdeen councillor Gill Al-Samarai said to the IJB: “It is very sad to hear that so many people feel lonely in the city.”
The report added that the information would be used to shape future plans for the city.
It reads: “The focus of the survey was on a specific sample of Aberdeen City residents that use both health and social care services.
“The results will provide useful data for the new locality plans.”
