The way I assuage loneliness, as a housebound 83-year-old living alone, is to use my Samsung tablet to play Scrabble and chat to or Skype people online, to shop online so that I can look forward to deliveries and exchange pleasantries with postmen or couriers (Loneliness is ‘a giant evil’ – Cox commission, 11 December; Letters, 14 December). I also employ a cleaner and a gardener alternately for two hours a fortnight at £25 each so that I have someone to make tea for and chat to once a week.
In my opinion all pensioners should be offered, via their doctor, a subsidised tablet upon retirement and be taught how to use one. They are an invaluable way of entertaining oneself and of keeping in touch with friends and relatives.
Joan Caesar
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
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