Welcome to episode eight of our second season of the Mental Health Podcast from Unite/Mental Health Nurses Association.

This week (15-19 June 2020) it's Loneliness Awareness Week 2020. The week is coordinated by the charity, The Marmalade Trust. You can find out more about the week via: https://marmaladetrust.org/law/ and follow them on Twitter (https://twitter.com/marmaladetrust).

Lead professional officer Dave Munday spoke to Prof. Sonia Johnson, a consultant psychiatrist and researcher who has an interest in loneliness and social connections in mental health, including her leading the UKRI cross-disciplinary network on Loneliness and Social Isolation in Mental Health (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/research/epidemiology-and-applied-clinical-research-department/loneliness-and-social-isolation) and being involved in several studies in this area.

Following the interview, #MHNjournal Editorial Board member, #mhTV presenter, @WeMHNurses leader and mental health nurse Vanessa Garrity joined Dave to reflect on Sonia's interview and give her own thoughts on loneliness and mental health.

You can follow Sonia, Vanessa and Dave on Twitter via: https://twitter.com/soniajohnson, https://twitter.com/VanessaRNMH & https://twitter.com/davidamunday. 

Sonia mentioned the loneliness data from the Office for National Statistics. These were published on 8 June 2020 (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/datasets/coronavirusandloneliness).

Dave mentioned the Mental Elf, André Tomlin. You can follow him on Twitter via: https://twitter.com/Mental_Elf. You can see loneliness information on his website (https://www.nationalelfservice.net/populations-and-settings/loneliness/), loneliness and mental health webinars on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSKM2Zm6MngIH8BkMSemG4SLhn1KQLNml) and the Loneliness Mental Health Question Time #MHQT (https://youtu.be/QwT1EHGy2dM).

Credits:
 Theme music: Tony Gillam 
Image: #MHpod logo typeface: Gilbert colour (www.typewithpride.com)
 Editing: Dave Munday

s02e08 - #LetsTalkLoneliness

#MHpod is a podcast from the Mental Health Nurses Association, a professional association in Unite the union. We hope our podcasts will be of interest to everyone that's interested in mental health. 

Get in touch to share your thoughts and suggestions: On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Unite_MHNA or via email: mhna@unitetheunion.org.

Credits - Theme music: Tony Gillam / Editing: Dave Munday / #MHpod logo typeface: Gilbert colour (https://www.typewithpride.com)

s02e08 - #LetsTalkLoneliness

The Mental Health Podcast