2019 National Cohousing Conference

This session will open with a presentation focussing on the prominence that cohousing is enjoying in the UK due specifically to concern for loneliness, notably the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness.  The presentation includes a review of the evidence of social isolation and loneliness as a complex problem and on opportunities and challenges for housing-based interventions, focussing on evidence of intergenerational and senior cohousing from international interdisciplinary research. The session allows for a 40 minute presentation followed by interactive discussion structured by two provocations - both for cohousing groups and for researchers improving the evidence base for the impact of shared space and social processes on loneliness in cohousing and through cohousing outreach. 

This talk will present a meta-analysis of social science literature (largely reviewing UK and USA research, policy and empirical studies) to explore the social impact of cohousing on loneliness across all ages. The aim is to identify from a comparison of senior and multi-generational cohousing research, alongside 'neighbourly designed' conventional housing options, interventions that promote mutual support and wellbeing to reduce the multiple and complex risk of loneliness.