article_snippet.sent: Loneliness maps' are being used to tackle the problem of elderly people being left alone by working out which areas' residents are most at risk.
article_snippet.sent: Now campaigners say that local councils should draw up maps of the places where pensioners and others are most likely to suffer from social isolation.
article_snippet.sent: This 'loneliness map' was drawn up by Essex County Council showing the areas where residents are most vulnerable to becoming socially isolated .
article_snippet.sent: Two county councils, Essex and Gloucestershire, have already implemented the maps, which allow Two county councils, Essex and Gloucestershire to target 'danger zones' of loneliness.
article_snippet.sent: A new report from the University of Kent and the Campaign to End Loneliness recommends the maps as a way of treating the problem across the country.
article_snippet.sent: In Gloucestershire, council bosses compiled the maps by studying statistics on a range of public health factors which are often linked to lonely people.
article_snippet.sent: Essex County Council also surveyed residents to identify those who rarely speak to residents neighbours, are unsatisfied with residents social life and say residents don't have someone to talk to.
article_snippet.sent: A spokesman for Essex County Council said: 'Targeting local people who need our help the most is a priority for our in Gloucestershire
article_snippet.sent: and our are always looking at new ways to reach local people who need our help. '
article_snippet.sent: The map we've adapted from a model by Essex County Council means that we can work out how many people could be lonely and where those people need we most.'
article_snippet.sent: The Campaign to End Loneliness has now called on other councils to copy the maps and draw up other councils own versions for other councils local area.
highlights_snippet.sent: Local councils are urged to draw up maps of the residents who are at risk .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Essex and Gloucestershire have already made 'loneliness maps'
  Experts warn that being lonely can lead to serious health problems .