December 2020
Loneliness evidence gaps and data needs

Together with the Tackling Loneliness team at DCMS and a brilliant group of loneliness researchers, we have been working to update what we know, collectively, about what the loneliness evidence gaps are.
The Tackling loneliness evidence review looked at the state of these gaps and what we need to know next to inform action.
This follows our our 2018 review and our role is to hold the knowledge of what’s known and to get it into practice. We do this by highlighting what the evidence gaps are and work with partners to fill evidence gaps. Find the evidence gaps in loneliness across different domains in the table below. This table will be updated continuously.
Loneliness: evidence gaps and data needs table
Close Loneliness: evidence gaps and data needs table
Recommendations
- Encourage robust and high-quality evaluations of loneliness interventions in the UK. Our measurement bank already exists and can be used to inform researchers.
- Looking beyond the immediate impact of interventions — consider the long term.
- Exploration of the effectiveness of interventions designed for different subgroups.
- Economic analysis needs to be embedded into robust longitudinal trials looking at the effectiveness of interventions over time.
Footnote links
- https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/documentation/data-releases
- https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/documentation/mainstage/dataset-documentation/search/term/neighbourhood-and-residence
- https://www.sportengland.org/know-your-audience/data/active-lives
- https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/people-and-nature-survey-for-england
- https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8682
- https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/community-life-survey–2
- https://www.seed.manchester.ac.uk/education/research/impact/bbc-loneliness-experiment/
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/longitudinal-study-of-young-people-in-england-cohort-2-wave
- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/taking-part-survey
- https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-travel-survey-statistics
- https://whatworkswellbeing.org/resources/workplace-wellbeing-questionnaire-methodology/
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