The older we get, the more likely it is that we will lose the sense of belonging and inclusion, perhaps through bereavement, or retirement. St Vincent shows us how to treat the ‘disease’ of loneliness aAccording to Mother Teresa, the biggest disease in our day “is not leprosy, cancer or tuberculosis, but the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for and deserted by everybody”. People today are living longer than ever before. Over the last 50 years or so, the Office for National Statistics reports that the average life span has increased by 10 years for a man and eight years for a woman in England and Wales. Hundreds of thousands of elderly people are lonely and cut off from society, especially those over the age of 75. In England, 51 per cent of all people over 75 li