Introduction: It is widely acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic, and successive
Coronavirus-related restriction measures, have caused serious disruption to ordinary
lives and a deterioration in public mental health. Apart from illness and death, a
distinctive mark of the pandemic has been disrupted social interactions, increasing
social isolation and loneliness. Mental health consequences varied widely and were
significantly dependent on an individual’s unique social context. While the National
COVID-19 Science Task Force (NCS-TF) proposed already in June 2020 that mitigation
measures for main stress factors should be included among pandemic management
plans (PMPs), in-depth research on concrete measures and on the ethical balancing
between prevention of mental health problems versus prevention of virus spread
remains scarce. Given the high diversity of how people cope with social isolation, there
has recently been a growing recognition that the concept of loneliness captures best
the difference between being alone versus lonely, and that loneliness and its mitigation
(during and beyond pandemics) need to be at the center of much needed further
research.
Already before the pandemic, globally, between one fifth and a third of the world
suffered from loneliness. In 2005, 26% of the Swiss population reported feeling lonely
and by 2017 the figure had increased to 38% (above the global average of 33%). It is
well established that loneliness is a serious health risk that affects both psychological
and physical health. There is a vital need to include loneliness prevention and
alleviation interventions (LPAIs) in PMPs. To do so requires not only thorough
knowledge about feasible and available measures and their usefulness, but also a
well-argued and well communicated psychologically and ethically sound balancing
between measures, especially those measures that may alleviate isolation, but at the
same time increase virus spreading. Taking loneliness into account in future PMPs will
reduce the harmful psychological, physical and behavioral effects of social isolation
measures, increase individual and social welfare, and enable more transparent and
just strategies to reduce the burden associated with pandemics.
Objectives and study parts: We will use a mixed methods approach to fill the existing
research gap. The aim is to provide an in-depth exploration into the experiences of
people affected by loneliness in order to identify types and justifications of loneliness
prevention and alleviation interventions that can inform PMPs.