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{{org_field_name}}

Registration Number: {{org_field_registration_no}}

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Preventing Social Isolation and Loneliness Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that {{org_field_name}} actively prevents social isolation and loneliness among the people we support. Social isolation can significantly affect a person’s mental and physical health, emotional well-being, and overall quality of life. This policy sets out structured interventions to reduce loneliness, promote inclusion, and maintain meaningful social connections.

This policy ensures that:

• Proactive measures are in place to reduce loneliness and social exclusion.
• Care is person-centred, ensuring that social needs are assessed and addressed.
• Staff are trained and supported to recognise and reduce social isolation.
• People we support are encouraged and supported to engage in social, cultural, and recreational activities.
• CQC compliance is met by ensuring well-being, person-centred care, and safeguarding principles are followed.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

• All employees, including carers, activity coordinators, managers and volunteers.
• People we support, ensuring their individual social and emotional needs, wishes and preferences are identified and appropriately supported.
• Family members, friends, advocates and other people important to the individual, where the individual wishes them to be involved or where they are lawfully involved in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 or other applicable legal authority.
• Community organisations and local services involved in providing opportunities for social contact, community participation and meaningful engagement.

3. Legal and Regulatory Compliance

{{org_field_name}} will operate this policy in accordance with applicable legislation and regulatory requirements, including the following.

Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, as amended

• Regulation 9 – Person-centred care: Care and support must be appropriate, meet the person’s needs and reflect their preferences. Assessment and care planning must take account of the person’s individual social, emotional, cultural, religious and spiritual needs and preferences. The person, or a person lawfully acting on their behalf where applicable, must be appropriately involved in planning, managing and reviewing their care and support.
• Regulation 9A – Visiting and accompanying in care homes, hospitals and hospices: Unless exceptional circumstances apply, people living in the care home must be supported to receive visits from people they wish to see and must not be discouraged from taking visits outside the care home. Any restriction on visiting or leaving the care home for visits must be based on the individual circumstances, be necessary and proportionate, and be kept under review. Nothing in this policy requires a person to receive a visitor or undertake a visit against their wishes or without the required consent.
• Regulation 10 – Dignity and respect: People must be treated with dignity and respect. This includes supporting their autonomy, independence and involvement in the community and having due regard to relevant protected characteristics.
• Regulation 11 – Need for consent: Care and treatment must only be provided with the consent of the relevant person. People’s decisions about social contact, participation, relationships and involvement of family members or others must be respected. Where a person lacks capacity to make a particular decision, staff must act in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
• Regulation 12 – Safe care and treatment: Where social isolation, withdrawal or changes in social behaviour indicate a potential risk to a person’s physical or mental health, staff must identify, assess and appropriately manage the relevant risks and seek appropriate professional input where required.
• Regulation 13 – Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment: People must be protected from abuse, neglect, discrimination, degrading treatment and improper restrictions on their liberty. Concerns that a person’s isolation may result from abuse, neglect, coercion, controlling behaviour or improper restriction must be responded to under the organisation’s safeguarding procedures.
• Regulation 17 – Good governance: {{org_field_name}} must maintain effective systems for assessing, monitoring and improving the quality and safety of the service. Records relating to people’s assessed social needs, preferences, agreed support, significant changes and relevant reviews must be accurate, complete and contemporaneous.
• Regulation 18 – Staffing: Staff must receive appropriate support, training, supervision and professional development necessary to enable them to carry out their role safely and effectively.

Other Relevant Legislation

• Care Act 2014: The service will work consistently with the well-being principles and safeguarding framework established by the Care Act 2014, including consideration of personal dignity, physical and mental health and emotional well-being, control over day-to-day life, participation in recreation, social well-being, family and personal relationships and contribution to society.
• Mental Capacity Act 2005: A person must be presumed to have capacity unless it is established otherwise. Capacity must be considered in relation to the specific decision at the time it needs to be made. All practicable steps must be taken to support the person to make their own decision. A person must not be treated as lacking capacity merely because they make an unwise decision. Where a person lacks capacity for a particular decision, any action or decision made on their behalf must be in their best interests and must be the least restrictive available option.
• Equality Act 2010: People must not be subjected to unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation in accessing activities, relationships or opportunities for social participation. Reasonable adjustments must be considered and made where required for disabled people.
• Human Rights Act 1998: People’s rights must be respected, including their rights relating to private and family life, relationships, autonomy and freedom from unjustified interference. Any restriction affecting social contact or relationships must have a lawful basis and must be necessary and proportionate.

4. Identifying Social Isolation and Loneliness

{{org_field_name}} recognises that social isolation may be caused by:

• Physical health limitations, reducing mobility or independence.
• Cognitive impairments, such as dementia, affecting social interaction.
• Hearing or speech difficulties, making communication harder.
• Loss of family or friends, leading to grief and emotional withdrawal.
• Cultural or language barriers, limiting social engagement.
• Past trauma or mental health conditions, causing reluctance to socialise.

4.1. Recognising Signs of Social Isolation

Staff are trained to identify early signs of social isolation, which may include:

• Reduced participation in activities or social interactions.
• Expressing feelings of loneliness or sadness.
• Loss of appetite or changes in sleep patterns.
• Becoming withdrawn, anxious, or irritable.
• Refusing visits or contact with family and friends.

5. Preventing Social Isolation: Proactive Measures

5.1. Person-Centred Social Care Planning

• Each person’s social, emotional, cultural, religious and spiritual needs, wishes, preferences, relationships and interests must be considered as part of their assessment and care planning.
• The person must be involved, as far as practicable, in identifying how they wish to maintain relationships, participate in activities and remain connected with their community.
• Staff must establish and record the person’s individual preferences, including:
  • activities and interests that are meaningful to them;
  • whether they prefer individual activities, group activities or a combination of both;
  • people and relationships that are important to them;
  • cultural, religious or community connections they wish to maintain;
  • communication or accessibility support required to enable participation;
  • whether there are particular people they wish, or do not wish, to have involved in their life or care; and
  • any support they require to maintain contact with family, friends, advocates or the wider community.
• A person must not be required, pressured or routinely expected to participate in group activities, communal dining, social events, visits or other forms of social interaction where they do not wish to do so. A person’s informed choice to spend time alone must be distinguished from unwanted social isolation or loneliness.
• Consent must be sought and respected in accordance with the person’s circumstances and the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Consent may be withdrawn at any time.
• Where there is reason to doubt a person’s capacity to make a particular decision about their care or support, capacity must be assessed in relation to that specific decision. Staff must not assume that a person lacks capacity because of their age, diagnosis, disability, communication needs or because they make a decision that others consider unwise.
• Where a person lacks capacity for a particular decision, any decision made on their behalf must comply with the Mental Capacity Act 2005, including the best interests requirements and the requirement to consider the least restrictive option. Relevant family members, attorneys, deputies, advocates or others must be consulted where legally required or appropriate.
• Reasonable adjustments and appropriate communication support must be provided where necessary to enable the person to understand choices, express preferences and participate as fully as possible.
• Social needs and preferences must be reviewed when the person’s care plan is reviewed and whenever there is a significant change in their health, circumstances, relationships, communication, emotional well-being or expressed wishes.

5.2. Promoting Social Interaction in the Care Home

• Daily group activities such as arts, music, exercise, and reminiscence therapy.
• Encouraging communal dining, reducing the likelihood of eating alone.
• Themed events and cultural celebrations, promoting inclusivity and engagement.
• Buddy systems, pairing new people with those who have similar interests.
• Intergenerational activities, involving local schools, colleges, and community groups.

5.3. Facilitating Family, Friend and Other Important Relationships

{{org_field_name}} recognises the importance of enabling people to maintain relationships with family members, friends, advocates and other people who are important to them.

Unless exceptional circumstances apply, the service will:

• Support people living in the care home to receive visits from people they wish to see.
• Not discourage people from leaving the care home to visit family members, friends or other people, or to maintain social and community relationships.
• Provide reasonable flexibility regarding the timing and arrangements for visits, taking account of the person’s wishes, routines, privacy, dignity and the needs and rights of other people living in the home.
• Support telephone calls, video calls, correspondence and other appropriate forms of communication where these are wanted by the person.
• Facilitate the person’s involvement with family members, friends, advocates or others in accordance with the person’s wishes and consent.
• Respect a person’s decision not to receive a particular visitor, not to participate in a visit or not to have a particular family member or other person involved in their care.
• Ensure that family members or friends are not automatically given access to information or involved in care planning solely because of their relationship with the person. Information sharing and involvement must be based on the person’s consent, lawful authority or another appropriate legal basis.

Where there are concerns about the safety of a proposed visit or visit outside the care home, staff must undertake an individual and proportionate risk assessment. The starting point must be to identify reasonable measures that would enable the contact or visit to take place safely rather than automatically preventing it.

Restrictions on visiting or social contact must not be imposed as a blanket rule solely for administrative convenience. Where exceptional circumstances make a restriction necessary, the service must:

• identify and record the specific reason for the restriction;
• consider the person’s wishes, rights, needs and individual circumstances;
• consider whether less restrictive measures would adequately address the identified risk;
• ensure that the restriction is lawful, necessary and proportionate;
• explain the restriction to the person in a way they can understand and, where appropriate and lawful, to relevant family members, representatives or advocates;
• record the decision and supporting risk assessment; and
• review the restriction regularly and remove it as soon as the exceptional circumstances no longer apply.

Where the person lacks capacity to make the relevant decision, visiting arrangements and any proposed restriction must be managed in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the person’s best interests. Any applicable court order, deprivation of liberty authorisation or other lawful restriction must also be followed.

5.4. Enabling Community Participation

• Supported outings to parks, cafés, libraries, and places of worship.
• Volunteering opportunities for those who wish to remain active in the community.
• Partnerships with local charities, clubs, and faith groups.
• Inviting guest speakers, musicians, and entertainers to engage with the care home.

6. Specialised Support for High-Risk Individuals

6.1. Supporting Individuals with Dementia or Cognitive Impairment

• Specialist activity sessions that promote cognitive stimulation.
• Sensory gardens and memory cafés, creating calming social environments.
• One-to-one engagement, for those who find group settings overwhelming.

6.2. Supporting Those Who Have Lost Loved Ones

• Bereavement support groups or access to counselling services.
• Encouraging remembrance activities, such as memory books or photo albums.
• Companionship visits, ensuring regular emotional support.

6.3. Supporting Individuals with Physical Disabilities

• Adapted activities, ensuring inclusion for those with mobility impairments.
• Use of assistive technology, such as speech-to-text devices.
• One-to-one companionship support, ensuring equal social opportunities.

7. Training and Staff Responsibilities

All staff must understand their responsibilities for promoting social inclusion while respecting each person’s autonomy, choices, consent, dignity, privacy and rights.

Staff must:

• Familiarise themselves with this policy and follow the person’s current care plan and recorded social preferences.
• Recognise signs that may indicate unwanted social isolation, loneliness, deterioration in emotional well-being or changes in a person’s usual pattern of social interaction.
• Speak with the person and seek to understand the reason for any change rather than assuming that withdrawal or reduced participation means that the person is lonely.
• Respect the person’s right to choose whether, when and how they socialise, including their right to decline activities, communal events, visits or contact with particular people.
• Avoid coercing, pressuring or repeatedly persuading a person to participate after they have made an informed choice not to do so.
• Support people to communicate their wishes and make their own decisions, using appropriate communication methods and reasonable adjustments where required.
• Follow the Mental Capacity Act 2005 where there is concern that a person may lack capacity to make a specific decision. Staff must not make assumptions about capacity on the basis of diagnosis, disability, age, appearance, behaviour or communication difficulty.
• Escalate concerns about capacity to an appropriately competent person so that any required decision-specific capacity assessment and best interests decision-making process can be completed and recorded.
• Support people to maintain relationships and receive visits in accordance with Regulation 9A and the person’s wishes.
• Raise concerns immediately where a person appears to be socially isolated because of abuse, neglect, discriminatory practice, coercive or controlling behaviour, inappropriate restriction, institutional practice or another safeguarding concern.
• Report significant changes in a person’s social engagement, emotional well-being, relationships or behaviour so that their needs, risks and care plan can be reviewed.
• Accurately record relevant assessments, expressed preferences, decisions, interventions, outcomes and significant changes in accordance with the organisation’s record-keeping requirements.
• Complete training and development relevant to their role and responsibilities and seek guidance from a senior member of staff where they are uncertain about consent, mental capacity, visiting restrictions, safeguarding or a person’s rights.

8. Monitoring and Compliance

8.1. Regular Reviews and Feedback

• Social engagement plans must be reviewed monthly, ensuring effectiveness.
• Feedback from people we support and families must be gathered through surveys and meetings.
• Incident reports must be reviewed for any concerns related to social isolation.

8.2. CQC Compliance Audits

• Activity schedules and participation records will be audited to ensure engagement.
• Staff training compliance will be monitored through supervision records.
• Quality assurance checks will ensure that social care plans are being followed.

9. Related Policies

This policy should be read alongside:

• CH09 – Person-Centred Care Policy​.
• CH10 – Visiting and Accompanying Policy​.
• CH18 – Risk Management and Assessment Policy​.
• CH27 – Staff Training and Development Policy​.
• CH13 – Safeguarding Adults from Abuse and Improper Treatment Policy​.

10. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed annually, or sooner if:

• CQC regulations are updated.
• Feedback from staff or individuals suggests changes are needed.

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Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}
Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}
Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}
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