Resources - Measures and Guidance

Informing Public Policy: A Guide for UCL Researchers and Staff, UCL Public Policy.

Research on loneliness from the What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

Covid:WIRED dashboard from What Works Centre for Wellbeing looking at emerging research on the impact of the pandemic on different populations and on different outcomes starting with subjective wellbeing and its six drivers, including loneliness and social isolation.

School for Public Health researchers from the public mental health programme have developed a tool to help improve people’s understanding of what has an impact on mental health. This Conceptual Framework for Public Mental Health is a web-based tool that brings together evidence from academic research, reports, and practitioner and public consultations to map out the factors affecting mental health across all stages of a person’s life, including links to key evidence and lived experiences. Further information here.

Foundation for Social Connection Social Isolation and Loneliness weekly research reports is useful for keeping up with the loneliness literature.  F4SC has taken over the dissemination of the Social Isolation & Loneliness Working Group (SILWG) weekly report.

The Togetherness Hub is a new international & interdisciplinary community platform, which aims to unite global thought leaders, researchers and projects on Social Health, Loneliness Interventions & the Future of Human Connection.

Mental health data and analysis: a guide for health professionals, Public Health England, May 2021.

How do I get funding for my research? 5 questions to get you started, Mental Health Research Matters blog, Sam Parsons, following on from cross-network ECR event in November 2020.

The Arts Health Early Career Research Network has launched its new website.

Working paper that provides a toolkit for open research to improve research transparency, reproducibility and quality.

Mental health research funding body MQ has launched an online research participant recruitment platform.

Resources available on older men and loneliness including research findings, policy implications and practical guidance.

The Academy of Medical Sciences has launched a page on loneliness and social isolation in their section on Career Support, including a video of Network joint-lead Alexandra Pitman talking about loneliness in the research community.

UKRI Good research resource hub includes up-to-date information to support research including co-production, public engagement, research integrity, ethics and open research, and support for engaging  in international partnerships.

Covid:WIRED dashboard from What Works Centre for Wellbeing looking at emerging research on the impact of the pandemic on different populations and on different outcomes starting with subjective wellbeing and its six drivers, including loneliness and social isolation.

A guide to measuring loneliness for community organisations, Ending Loneliness Together, August 2021.

Public Health England's Children & Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing profiling tool.

COVID-Minds Catalogue of longitudinal studies measuring mental health during COVID-19 in different parts of the world.

Catalogue of Mental Health Measures: an interactive catalogue of mental health and wellbeing measures already collected in British cohort and longitudinal studies. This is a great resource for people considering applying for our plus project funds.

The Thriving Places Index provides local scores for factors that affect wellbeing, as well as sustainability and equality.

The Co-op Foundation Community Wellbeing Index.

Let's Talk Loneliness campaign toolkit. As part of the government’s commitment to tackling loneliness, the Let’s Talk Loneliness campaign has been created to bring partners, communities and individuals together to build a national conversation. This tootlkit provides resources to help you join the conversation and help promote the campaign.

Resources, tools and activities to share from the Connection Coalition.

Association of Convenience Stores Wellbeing Guide, developed in partnership with the What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

Resources and information about the Groups 4 Health programme, an intervention developed by researchers including Cath Haslam that aims to improve social connections.

Let's Talk Loneliness campaign toolkit. As part of the government’s commitment to tackling loneliness, the Let’s Talk Loneliness campaign has been created to bring partners, communities and individuals together to build a national conversation. This tootlkit provides resources to help you join the conversation and help promote the campaign.

UK Mental Health Awareness week (10-16 May 2021) resources about connecting with Nature, mental Health Foundation.

Resources, tools and activities to share from the Connection Coalition.

Various resources collated by the International Loneliness and Isolation Research Network (I-LINk).

Resources, tools and activities to share from the Connection Coalition.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has created webpages to support their commitment to working with charities.

Norwegian company No Isolation have created various technologies to help people remain connected.

Ideas for connecting your community from Eden Project Communities.

SHARE Framework for ending homelessness, of which the fourth priority area is relationships.

Resources, evidence and guidance on understanding and tackling loneliness available from What Works Wellbeing.

Loneliness resource pack from the Joseph Roundtree Foundation.

Farming community network resources for the farming community, including for mental health.

A toolkit for rural churches on loneliness and social isolation from network members The Arthur Rank Centre.

Policy paper from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government on their vision for stronger communities

Public Health England's Children & Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing profiling tool.

The Emerging Minds network Co-RAY project is enabling young people to develop resources to support young people’s mental health during COVID-19 (particularly 11 – 16 year olds). You can find the 'feeling lonely, disconnected and isolated' briefing here.

Hampshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have launched The Together Project with resources to start conversations with young people and sources of information and support.

Resources from the Coop Foundation on working with youth loneliness.

Resources from the The Loneliness Campaign North Yorkshire aka TLC, including standing up to youth loneliness, tackling loneliness in the workplace and combatting loneliness through volunteering. TLC ran from January 2020 until March 2021 and was a collaborative project led by Community First Yorkshire with funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, North Yorkshire County Council and ACRE.

Circle of Friends, a group-based intervention to address loneliness in older people developed in Finland.

Steps to Connection: A Guide to Finding Community in Older Age, Extra Care.

Resources available on older men and loneliness including research findings, policy implications and practical guidance.

Employers and loneliness guidance, Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport, May 2021.

What Works Wellbeing guidance on workplace wellbeing.

Covid:WIRED dashboard from What Works Centre for Wellbeing looking at emerging research on the impact of the pandemic on different populations and on different outcomes starting with subjective wellbeing and its six drivers, including loneliness and social isolation.

Wider Impacts of COVID-19 on Health (WICH) tool from Public Health England includes data on mental health and wellbeing and related risk factors including loneliness.

A guide to measuring loneliness for community organisations, Ending Loneliness Together, August 2021.

What's your voluntary organisations's wellbeing impact? Updated guidance and new bespoke surgeries What Works Wellbeing blog, Ingrid Abreu Scherer and Margherita Musella, February 2021.

Resources from the government on how to evaluate digital tools for health.

Resources form the Lottery Community Fund to help community organisations plan, understand, measure and improve impact.

Resources and information about the Groups 4 Health programme, an intervention developed by researchers including Cath Haslam that aims to improve social connections.

Here is some useful information on charities that fund mental health research, provided by the Mental Health Research Incubator.

FAQs on Knowledge Mobilisation from the Closing the Gap network.

The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) incubator for mental health research has developed a new Advice for Researchers with Lived Experience webpage. It provides advice, support and networking opportunities. 

Mental Health Research Map from the MHR Incubator. Use the map to find out about the mental health research that is happening in organisations and research departments near you. 

Must Know: Loneliness - Is your council actively tackling loneliness? Guidance from Local Government Association, December 2021.

Loneliness rates and well-being indicators by Local Authority from the Office of National Statistics, April 2021.

The Public Health England mental health profiling tools have undergone some changes.

Fact sheet from the WHO on the role of arts in wellbeing.

Briefing paper from the House of Commons  on tackling loneliness and a reading list of resources and publications.

Loneliness Lab Playbook – read what our network members The Loneliness Lab have learnt so far.

Position statement from the British Geriatrics Society on loneliness.

Governments Let's Talk Loneliness campaign, launched to tie in with Loneliness Awareness Week 2019.