Henry Monnington's Landscape Blog

A drawing of John Westwood- sketched with alcohol markers. He is a football fan who lives and breathes Portsmouth FC.

Across the globe, loneliness is an on ongoing public health issue, with long-term loneliness believed to contribute to dementia, depression and early mortality  (Campaign to End Loneliness, 2021) . As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, loneliness has become a more pervasive issue. According to a study taken in November 2020, 1 in 4 adults had felt feelings of loneliness in the previous two weeks  (Mental Health Foundation, 2021) . This essay will explore how the Landscape Architecture profession can help to combat this.   COVID-19 has forced people to find new ways to socialise, leading to an increased use of technology for this purpose. However, a survey of 500 people over the age of 70, has found ‘28% of respondents aren’t confident using technology’  (Elder, 2021) . Further research shows that 1 in 3 elderly people are lonelier in the wake of COVID-19’  (Elder, 2021) . The gap in digital literacy among the over 70s is likely to make it more difficult for them to access online soc