Lonely Elderly people in European Countries: time to move towards an Integrated Health and Social Management?

Loneliness among elderly people is a main concern across modern societies. Although loneliness is often debated together with social isolation, the latter implies a real absence of social connections, whereas the former results from a subjective feeling of social relations. However, because living alone can lead to loneliness, individuals can be at the same time isolated and lonely. Loneliness can be contrasted through many interventions, which can be distinguished in individual- and group-based types and may be done in-person or online. Although lonely patients are frequently seen in community services, a lot of them end up hospitalized. Social prescriptions are non-medical interventions designed to help care patients by linking clinical practice with social activities. The integration of health and social care in the European welfare systems has become a urgent priority for elderly people to improve their quality of care.