National policy responses to address loneliness: A global scoping review of 194 WHO member states
Various policies are in place to help address loneliness at the national level. To maximise impact, policies require adequate funding. To date, none of the national policies had undergone rigorous evaluation concerning their effectiveness. This review highlights the growing political focus on loneliness and provides a starting point for those seeking to understand, develop or strengthen national strategies to address loneliness, social isolation or social connection.
Authors
- Austen El‐Osta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8772-4938)
- Naka Matsumoto
- Pauline van den Berg
- Nina Goldman
- Mathias Kamp Lasgaard
- Niina Junttila (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9096-377X)
- Herlind Megges
- Melek Alemdar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9580-8226)
- Eric Schoenmakers
- Pamela Qualter
- Julie Christiansen
- Andreas Goldman
- Debora Draxl
Institutions
- University of Turku (FI)
- University of Lucerne (CH)
- Meiji University (JP)
- Fontys University of Applied Sciences (NL)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Necmettin Erbakan University (TR)
- University of Teacher Education Lucerne (CH)
- Central Denmark Region (DK)
- Department of Biomedicine Basel (CH)
- Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (DE)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Health Policy
- Published
- 2025-12-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105553
- Primary Topic
- Health disparities and outcomes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- World Health Organization
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Public Health Agency
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Folkhälsomyndigheten