According to Macmillan Cancer Support, more than one in five (22%) people living with cancer in the UK – an estimated 400,000 people – are lonely and are rendered housebound and unable to feed themselves properly as a result of their cancer.
New research conducted by Ipsos MORI reveals – for the first time ever – the detrimental impact of loneliness on the lives of those living with cancer. It compares the experiences of cancer patients who say they feel lonely since their diagnosis (or more lonely than they did before), with those who don't feel lonely – and the differences are stark.
Lonely cancer patients are:
• three times more likely to drink more alcohol than they usually do (22% vs. 7%)
• almost five times more likely to have not left the house for days (66% vs. 14%)
• and almost three times more likely to have problems sleeping (76% vs. 27%)
For many, their diet also suffers at a time when they need to be as strong and healthy as possible. Lonely cancer patients are five times more likely to skip meals (38% vs. 7%) and almost eight times more likely to eat a poor diet (45% vs. 6%).
While the reasons for not eating properly include lack of appetite, having no food in the house and being too weak to cook, 13% of lonely cancer patients who have skipped meals say it is because they cannot afford to buy enough food.
Clare Redgrove, 49, from Kent, who was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2010, said: "Being diagnosed with cancer has been a very lonely experience. I went from being a busy person running my own business to living on benefits. As I live alone, there were days when I'd find it hard to find the energy to feed myself let alone get out of my house. I feel under tremendous stress, my sleep has suffered, and it all seems even worse now that my treatment is over."
Ciarán Devane, chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "Loneliness is blighting the lives of hundreds of thousands of cancer patients in the UK. It's hard enough for people being hit with the devastating news that they have cancer, without having to suffer the additional effects that being lonely brings. It's heartbreaking to think of people struggling to eat or leave the house because they have been abandoned and left to deal with cancer alone.
"This is a growing problem which is only set to get worse as the number of people diagnosed with cancer doubles from two to four million in the next 20 years. Macmillan provides a range of services – including a support line and an online community – that are a lifeline to people affected by cancer. But we simply can't help everyone who needs us now, let alone those who will need us in the future. We need more public donations and support."
He added: "We also urgently need the NHS, policy makers and local authorities to wake up to this looming loneliness epidemic and work with us to provide these vital services to ensure no one faces cancer alone."
People with cancer who are most likely to feel lonely include those with cancer that is advanced or has spread or relapsed, those living alone, and those who have made a change to their working life.
The content on this page is produced and controlled by Macmillan
