ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how we can identify loneliness in later life by examining the utility of established methods of measuring loneliness. It considers the pattern of loneliness across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, focussing upon variations within Europe, and across the life course and demonstrate that loneliness is highest amongst adolescents and older people. The chapter talks about the loneliness in old age, and to develop the foundations for appropriate interventions, people need to understand the trajectories into and out of loneliness in later life and locate this within a broader life course perspective. This chapter explains that loneliness can severely compromise the quality of life of older people. Loneliness as a part of the human condition has a long historical precedent and infuses popular culture. Age-related studies of loneliness in later life are concerned with how individuals rate their loneliness, as opposed to previous ages/stages in their life, and is an area of research where we have little evidence.
