Tackling Youth Loneliness in Urban Areas: Measuring feasibility, acceptability, and benefits of a community-based intervention: Study protocol

Background: Loneliness is associated with adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Most interventions are aimed at older adults even though young adults, including those of working-age, have been identified as being at-risk for persistent loneliness. This study aims to formatively evaluate a new community-based social interaction intervention, as well as the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial of this intervention for evaluation purposes. ‘The Great Friendship Project’ (TGFP) is designed to tackle loneliness for young and working-age adults by encouraging social interaction and connections. Further aims are to determine the cost and potential effect of TGFP. Methods: In this mixed-methods randomised feasibility study with nested qualitative evaluation, 70 participants will be randomly allocated to the community-based intervention over 12 weeks (n=35) or to the wait-list control group (n=35). The intervention consists of weekly community social activities with the aim of reducing loneliness . For both groups, socio-demographic characteristics, measures of loneliness (3- and 20-item UCLA), well-being (SWEMWBS), capability (ICECAP-A), and health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), as well as healthcare resource utilisation (CSRI), will be collected at baseline, end of the intervention (12 weeks), and 6 weeks post-intervention (18 weeks). Feasibility data of being recruited into the study, randomised, and retained will be gathered from both groups across the assessment points. The acceptability of TGFP will be explored through a qualitative interview with intervention participants (n=15-20) 6 weeks post-intervention. Discussion: Our findings will primarily inform a) the acceptability of a community-based loneliness intervention for young adults and b) the design and delivery of future research that will aim to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of TGFP intervention using late-stage trial designs. Effective and cost-effective interventions can lead to improved services and support systems to help young adults manage loneliness, improve related physical and mental health outcomes, reduce health care utilisation, and foster a sense of belonging within the community. Trial registration: NCT06805136, 31/01/2025