World Alzheimer’s Month: Tackling Loneliness as a Dementia Prevention Strategy

Loneliness isn’t just a feeling. It’s a risk factor. 

World Alzheimer’s Month is a reminder that dementia is not only a clinical issue but also a social one. Commissioners, employers, and system leaders must ask a vital question: are we overlooking one of the most accessible and cost-effective ways to reduce dementia risk, tackling loneliness and isolation head on? 

According to Age UK, older adults experiencing chronic loneliness face a 50% higher risk of developing dementia. The landmark meta-analysis by Holt-Lunstad et al. (2015) went further, showing that loneliness and social isolation increase the likelihood of premature mortality and cognitive decline on par with smoking and obesity. 

Yet in many health, care, and workplace settings, loneliness is still seen as an emotional issue; incidental, unmeasurable, or outside the system’s remit. In reality, it is systemic, escalating, and expensive. 

Loneliness Accelerates Decline 

In later life, loneliness accelerates both physical and cognitive deterioration. NHS data and the British Geriatrics Society link isolation to: 

Faster memory loss and earlier dementia onset 

Increased risk of depression, frailty, and falls 

Greater reliance on GP, A&E, and hospital services 

Earlier-than-necessary admission into residential care 

Importantly, these outcomes are not inevitable. The 2020 Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention identified low social contact as one of 12 modifiable risk factors, suggesting that up to 40% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed. Its 2024 update expanded this to 14 risk factors, estimating that nearly 45% of dementia cases are potentially avoidable. 

While loneliness is the subjective feeling of disconnection and social isolation the objective lack of contact, both are proven to significantly increase dementia risk. We cannot cure dementia, but we can act upstream to create conditions that delay onset and slow progression. 

What Sacana Offers 

Sacana is a UK-wide preventative service designed to reduce loneliness and isolation at scale. Delivered through structured, one-to-one video conversations with trained Matrons, Sacana provides: 

Structured engagement that stimulates cognitive resilience and emotional wellbeing 

Stigma-free access with no referral thresholds or eligibility barriers 

Continuity of support, even where other services are fragmented or overstretched 

Inclusive design, offering accessible, multilingual, and secure entry points 

Secure infrastructure; UK-hosted, GDPR compliant, Cyber Essentials Plus accredited 

Integration flexibility; available via app, web, or as a widget embedded into council or NHS “front door” systems, with optional APIs for NHS number–based self-referral and live commissioner reporting 

Unlike informal befriending or app-based wellness tools, Sacana delivers structured, safeguarded, and measurable outcomes, ensuring dignity, trust, and system value.  

Why This Matters to Commissioners and Employers 

Loneliness isn’t only an individual tragedy, it drives demand across health, care, and employment systems. 

For councils and NHS commissioners, Sacana can: 

Support safer discharge by ensuring people have structured contact once home 

Reduce avoidable GP demand by addressing non-medical presentations 

Delay admission into residential care, protecting both budgets and independence 

Provide real-time MI dashboards to evidence uptake, engagement, and outcomes 

For employers, Sacana helps: 

Support ageing employees at risk of cognitive decline or isolation 

Sustain working carers, reducing stress and hidden burnout 

Address presenteeism, giving employees a safe outlet before disengagement escalates 

Strengthen retention and resilience, improving both productivity and wellbeing 

The Cost of Inaction 

In the UK today: 

Over 1 million older people go a month without speaking to anyone (Age UK) 

More than 225,000 regularly go a full week without conversation 

Dementia already costs the UK economy over £34 billion per year (Alzheimer’s Society) 

Failing to intervene on loneliness is not neutral, it is a costly omission. 

Connection is Prevention 

We cannot cure dementia. But we can prevent isolation, slow decline, and create stronger conditions for healthy, independent ageing. 

For older adults, unpaid carers, and those quietly cut off from everyday life, structured conversation is not a “nice to have”, it is protective infrastructure. 

Sacana provides a scalable, evidence-based way to deliver this prevention. It is not therapy, it’s is not a helpline. It is a non-clinical, preventative service that keeps people connected, supported, and able to thrive while reducing pressure across health, care, and employment systems. 

Talk. Connect. Thrive. 

Learn more: sacana.com/value 

References 

Age UK. (2020). All the Lonely People. 

Holt-Lunstad, J. et al. (2015). Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 

The Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care. (2020; 2024 update). 

Alzheimer’s Society. (2023). Dementia UK Report. 

British Geriatrics Society. Loneliness, Frailty and Cognitive Decline. 

NHS England. (2022). Unscheduled care and social isolation impacts.