King's College London

Loneliness and breathlessness are common challenges faced by older people. The physical and mental impacts of breathlessness can make it harder for older people to stay connected with their friends, families and communities. However, there hasn’t been much research on the links between breathlessness and loneliness.

We want to explore and make visible the lived experiences of loneliness in older people with breathlessness and understand the relationship between breathlessness and loneliness over time. This information will help us to create future support and interventions to address loneliness in people with breathlessness.

About our project

Our project aims to improve supports by understanding how breathlessness and loneliness are related to one another. We will conduct two studies across England:

1. We will ask around 25 people with breathlessness to take photographs representing ‘social connection and loneliness’. Participants will select their top photos to discuss with the researcher. In an interview they will explore how breathlessness and loneliness affect or influence one another, and what support may be most helpful.
2. We will look at information collected from over 2000 people as part of the ‘English Longitudinal Study of Aging’. This will help us understand how many people with breathlessness feel lonely, and how much breathlessness and loneliness affect each other over time.

We will then discuss the findings from both studies with experts, including people who have personal experience of breathlessness ad loneliness, their family members, as well as health and social care providers, charities, and policy-influencing organisations. Together, we will identify opportunities for future action.

Get involved

Our research team members work closely with people who have lived experience of breathlessness and loneliness or social isolation. We are also actively looking for participants, so if you (or someone you know) is interested in being in our study, please get in touch with Laura at laura.m.cottrell@kcl.ac.uk or 020 7848 8205.