loneliness

Currently under active development

Overview

A loneliness index for the UK.

The loneliness index scores, ranks and deciles each LSOA in each nation of the UK from most lonely to least lonely. In England the score is based on a self-reported survey (Community Life Survey). In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the score is based on GP prescriptions associated with loneliness related conditions. Scores are comparable within nations but not between nations.

The code and approach for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is based on an approach developed by the Office for National Statistics' Data Science Campus, which uses GP prescription data to find areas with above-average prescriptions for conditions where loneliness has been shown to be a risk factor: Alzheimer's, depression, hyperternsion, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, addiction and insomnia.

Virtual Environments

This project uses requirements.txt to manage Python package dependencies.

Instruction below to create and activate the virtual environment using Python's inbuilt venv module:

• Create a new virtual environment:

  • python -m venv venv_loneliness

• Activate the virtual environment:

  • Windows: venv_loneliness\Scripts\activate.bat
  • Unix: source venv_loneliness/bin/activate

• Install the packages:

  • Windows: pip install -r requirements-win.txt
  • Unix: pip install -r requirements-unix.txt

• Deactivate the virtual environment:

  • deactivate

  Drug List

  Sources for the treatment drugs below:

  • Depression - NICE; Depression - NHS
  • Alzheimer
  • Hypertension - NICE; Hypertension - NHS
  • Type 2 Diabetes
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Insomnia
  • Addiction
  • Social anxiety