Establishing Social Connections in Urban Areas: Evaluating a Community-based Programme

NCT ID: NCT06805136

Last Updated: 2025-06-13

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

70 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-02-12

Study Completion Date

2026-01-31

Brief Summary

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The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a new community-based programme designed to tackle loneliness for young and working-age adults. The programme focuses on encouraging social interactions and connections through offering community initiatives and activities, online spaces for interaction, and free or low-cost social events for young adults. Further aims of this study are to determine the cost-effectiveness of the programme.

Detailed Description

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Loneliness is associated with adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Most interventions are aimed at older adults even though young adults, including those of working-age, have been identified as being at-risk for persistent loneliness. This study aims to formatively evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a community-based social interaction intervention. Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to:

1. Assess the feasibility and acceptability of the community-based intervention.
2. To determine the costs and effects related to the community-based intervention using quantitative feasibility study data and qualitative interviews with study participants.

In this mixed-methods two-arm randomised feasibility study with qualitative evaluation, participants will be randomly allocated to the community-based intervention over 12 weeks or to the wait-list control group. The intervention consists of weekly community social activities with the aim of reducing feelings of loneliness. Participants in the wait-list control group can continue any standard care or support they were receiving e.g. use of GP or mental health services. For both groups, online self-report assessments will take place at baseline (time 0, t0), 12-week follow-up (end of the intervention period; time 1, t1) and 6-weeks post intervention (18-weeks after baseline, time 2, t2). For the intervention group, an additional qualitative interview will be taken at the final timepoint (time 3, t3; 6 weeks post-intervention).

Conditions

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Loneliness

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Community-based intervention group

The participants in the community-based intervention group will be invited to attend weekly social activities over a period of 12 weeks. Participants must be committed to attend at least 8 activities during the 12 week period. Following the 12-week intervention period, the intervention group will enter a 6-week post-intervention period where they will no longer be encouraged to attend the activities to help understand the impact of stopping the intervention.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Community-based social interaction intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The intervention focuses on free or low-cost social interaction by offering community initiatives and activities, online spaces for interaction, and social events to young and working-age adults in London. Activities include but are not limited to social walks, bingo nights, board game afternoons and pub quizzes.

Wait-list control

The participants allocated to the wait-list control will continue to receive any standard care they were receiving (e.g., National Health Services (NHS) services) during the 18-week trial. All participants will be eligible and able to access the community-based intervention as independent members once the trial ends (after 18 weeks).

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Community-based social interaction intervention

The intervention focuses on free or low-cost social interaction by offering community initiatives and activities, online spaces for interaction, and social events to young and working-age adults in London. Activities include but are not limited to social walks, bingo nights, board game afternoons and pub quizzes.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Age 20-40
* Reside in London
* Reports that they are some of the time or often lonely in response to a single questionnaire item ("How often do you feel lonely?)
* No prior interaction with the community-based intervention we are investigating
* Able to communicate in English sufficiently well to engage in qualitative interviews and complete the outcome measures and questionnaires.
* Available and willing to participate in the study for 18 weeks

Exclusion Criteria

* Age \< 20 or age \>40.
* Resides outside of London.
* Does not report frequent levels of loneliness ("hardly ever or never" in response to single questionnaire item).
* Previously attended any event or is an existing member of the community-based programme that is forming the intervention arm.
* Unable to communicate even with communication support.
* Planned unavailability for \>3 weeks during intervention and follow up periods.
* Participating in another research project related to loneliness.
* Reports current severe unstable health problems (mental or physical) or is deemed overburdened with respect to participating in research.
Minimum Eligible Age

20 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

40 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Exeter

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Queen Mary University of London

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Locations

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In the community in London, England

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Youth Resilience Unit, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Countries

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United Kingdom

Central Contacts

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Jennifer Lau

Role: CONTACT

020 7882 3850

Facility Contacts

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David Gradon

Role: primary

07590 420947

Jennifer Lau

Role: primary

020 7882 3850

References

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Al-Janabi H, Flynn TN, Coast J. Development of a self-report measure of capability wellbeing for adults: the ICECAP-A. Qual Life Res. 2012 Feb;21(1):167-76. doi: 10.1007/s11136-011-9927-2. Epub 2011 May 20.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21598064 (View on PubMed)

Shah N, Cader M, Andrews B, McCabe R, Stewart-Brown SL. Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS): performance in a clinical sample in relation to PHQ-9 and GAD-7. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2021 Nov 24;19(1):260. doi: 10.1186/s12955-021-01882-x.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 34819104 (View on PubMed)

Russell D, Peplau LA, Ferguson ML. Developing a measure of loneliness. J Pers Assess. 1978 Jun;42(3):290-4. doi: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4203_11.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 660402 (View on PubMed)

Bryan BT, Thompson KN, Goldman-Mellor S, Moffitt TE, Odgers CL, So SLS, Uddin Rahman M, Wertz J, Matthews T, Arseneault L. The socioeconomic consequences of loneliness: Evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal study of young adults. Soc Sci Med. 2024 Feb 22;345:116697. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116697. Online ahead of print.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 38490911 (View on PubMed)

Eager S, Johnson S, Pitman A, Uribe M, Qualter P, Pearce E. Young people's views on the acceptability and feasibility of loneliness interventions for their age group. BMC Psychiatry. 2024 Apr 23;24(1):308. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05751-x.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 38654301 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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APP19330

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

QME24. 0657

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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