Health and wellbeing

Loneliness and isolation tend to have significant negative effects on health such as increased prevalence of depression and suicide, cardiovascular disease and stroke, stress, decreased memory and learning, antisocial behaviour, poor decision-making, alcoholism and drug abuse, the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and altered brain functioning. Research around loneliness has concluded that it can increase the risk of premature death by around 30%.

The resources below contain information on the link between loneliness and isolation and its link with health and wellbeing, as well as the ways in which health can be promoted through design, and community practices. There are also resources in this section that feature best practice in building design, care and support practices and city architecture to support healthy living and preventing loneliness.