This website features a wide range of resources for people experiencing, or at risk of, loneliness and isolation due to the loss of a loved one, and provides strategies for them and their family, friends, and carers to help and support.
What makes us more vulnerable to loneliness?
Risk factors for loneliness are diverse, spanning social, psychological, and cultural contexts. Social risk factors include:
bereavement and widowhood
recent divorce or separation
living with psychiatric disorders
poor or declining physical health
retirement
carers
people living with a disability
socio-economically disadvantaged
living alone
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
Losing a loved one causes emotional loneliness, which is usually a different experience from social loneliness. In particular, losing a partner means losing a major attachment figure so support from family and friends does little to compensate.
For widowers, loneliness can present their biggest single challenge for coping with daily life. In fact, losing a partner is associated with the highest emotional loneliness, followed by losing a child and losing a parent. Those who have cared for their spouse in the lead-up to their death or who have witnessed their partner suffering from a severe disease are also at risk.
:format():fill())