Logo from Home | Loneliness Awareness Week
This week is Loneliness Awareness Week and I wanted to thank Phil Holmes, this year’s President of ADASS for challenging us to think about the contribution of adult social care to tackling loneliness.
When I think back to my time as a front-line social worker, the work that stays with me most is the work rooted in relationships. I was fortunate to support people in ways that were practical, emotional and deeply human: helping people connect with others, feel part of their community, and access the support they needed in places where they felt welcome.
One project brought people together in a community building where they could meet peers, share food and have services come to them. Many were living with HIV at a time when stigma and isolation were profound. What I saw there was the strength people drew from each other. Connection was not a “nice to have”; it was part of what helped people survive, recover and live with dignity.
The world of social work and adult social care feels more complex now. The law is more demanding, people’s needs may be more complex, and society can feel more fragmented.
Social media can be used to connect people, it can also be used to divide us. We have seen care workers being targeted for their religion or ethnicity, with some requiring heightened security.
Our jobs have become harder. Yet some things have not changed. Social work remains a relational practice. It exists to understand what matters to people, uphold human rights, and see people in the context of their families, friendships, neighbourhoods and communities.
That matters because loneliness is not simply an emotional issue. It is connected to safety, health, wellbeing and people’s ability to live the lives they choose. In adult social care, tackling loneliness should be seen as part of our core purpose.
Image from the Campaign to End Loneliness roadshow/ADASS President's Day event which Sarah presented at on Thursday 11 JuneSafeguarding is one clear example. In preparing to chair the first National Adults Safeguarding Board, I have been reading Safeguarding Adults Reviews. Too many tell the story of a person who died isolated and alone: a fellow human being, someone’s child, sibling, parent or friend, sometimes not discovered for weeks. Isolation is not the same as loneliness, but we know that connection in communities is one of the strongest protective factors against abuse and neglect. Good safeguarding therefore cannot only be about systems and processes; it must also be about relationships, visibility and belonging.
Carers are another vital part of this story. Every day, millions of unpaid carers support family members, friends and neighbours. Their compassion and commitment help people live independently, maintain dignity and stay connected to the people and places they love. But caring itself can be lonely. Many carers spend so much time supporting others that they lose contact with friends, activities and support of their own. Building carer-friendly communities is therefore essential: communities that recognise carers, include them and make it easier for them to remain connected.
Carers UK launched Building Carer Friendly Communities: a blueprint | Carers UK during Carers Week 2026. This blueprint sets out a shared vision for creating communities where unpaid carers are recognised, understood and supported in every aspect of daily life.Loneliness should also be central to how we think about support for older people, for those living with frailty and dementia. The first Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia covers adult social care as well as NHS services. It will aim to support timely, proactive care; better coordination; and fairer outcomes. It is an important opportunity to shape 21st-century models of support around what helps people to live well, not just around formal services.
For people living with dementia, social isolation is recognised as one of the modifiable risk factors. For people living with frailty, experience tells us that becoming housebound, experiencing bereavement and living alone can all erode connection. We rightly talk about “home first”, but home must not mean four visits a day, never stepping outside the front door and no meaningful contact beyond paid care. Home should mean being able to live in a place where relationships, community and purpose remain possible.
If we want something better, we need to design adult social care with connection at its centre. That means neighbourhoods where people can come together, share experiences, access practical support and feel seen and heard. It means recognising that informal networks are not peripheral to care; they are part of the fabric that helps people stay safe, well and hopeful.
Loneliness will not be solved by adult social care alone. It requires a collective response across communities, public services, voluntary organisations, families and neighbours. But adult social care has a crucial role to play because our work starts with people’s lives, not just their needs. Connection is the glue that binds people together, rebuilds trust and helps people live with dignity. It must be central to the future we build.
seen at 14:53, 19 June in Social work with adults.