The power of every day connections to beat loneliness and isolation

New research has found phone calls to call centres can detect and help loneliness in older Australians, highlighting how important it is to retain human operators.

Published: 6 December 2025
  • qld
  • 6 December 2025
  • The Senior

With over 30,000 calls to Anglicare Southern Queensland each month, the charity has found even though most are about rescheduling appointments or requesting assistance, many have "moments of connection".

The research, conducted by the charity in conjunction with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Cisco, found combatting loneliness could be as simple as using systems we already have, such as call centres.