Blog
We write about loneliness, ageing and the work of those who care. With official data, science cited at the source, and no shortcuts.
What science knows about loneliness (and the study that inspired MILAE)
For years we treated loneliness as a sentimental matter. Two decades of research say otherwise: loneliness raises the risk of death, heart disease and stroke, and social isolation raises the risk of dementia. And the study that struck me most used no technology at all.
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Half a million people over 65 live alone in Portugal
The 2021 Census counted 517,146 people aged 65 or over living alone. Portugal is the second oldest country in the European Union. These are the official numbers, and what they ask of anyone working in a municipality.
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More technology, more loneliness? When digital literacy is ignored
Portugal is today one of the most aged countries in Europe. We live longer, but increasingly alone. Thousands of people spend entire days without regular human contact, often without anyone noticing.
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How municipalities flag isolated older people, and what happens next
Every year the GNR maps more than 43,000 older people living alone or isolated, and municipalities have social radars of their own. The map exists. The question is what gets done with it over the following ten months.
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Technology against elderly isolation: what the evidence shows
Twenty-one systematic reviews, 326 studies, almost 80,000 participants. The conclusion is not the one in the press releases: technology rarely solves loneliness, but it is good at producing the information other people act on.
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Living alone is not being isolated: what the European data shows
Portugal is the second-oldest country in the European Union and, at the same time, one of those with the fewest older people living alone. Both facts are true, and that is why planning around the wrong number leaves people out.
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