Elian Eve Jentoft

• Doctor of Philosophy
• OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University

Purpose Loneliness’ impact on health and wellbeing has emerged as a public health issue in several countries. Young people are increasingly understood as a ‘risk group’ and intervention target for loneliness-reduction. This research paper aims to present a discourse analysis of policies and political speech about young people and loneliness. Desig...

Even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic’s lockdowns advanced a public discussion about loneliness, several countries had already taken the lead on ‘tackling’ loneliness through policy.Two of the first to do so were the United Kingdom and Norway. At the time of writing, little research has focused on this new policy field and discursive studies of lonel...

Loneliness is represented in UK policy as a public health problem with consequences in terms of individual suffering, population burden and service use. However, loneliness is historically and culturally produced; manifestations of loneliness and social isolation also require social and cultural analysis. We explored meanings of loneliness and soci...

This article presents an analysis of discourses in recent UK policy on loneliness reduction. We use Carol Bacchi’s ‘what is the problem represented to be’ approach (WPR) to explore how the problem of loneliness produces specific solutions, subject positions, and forms of responsibility. Our findings suggest loneliness is understood as a public heal...

Introduction: This article provides an analysis of recent loneliness policy and political discourses from the United Kingdom pertaining to older adults. Although government asserts that several groups in society are "at risk" of loneliness, older adults remain the most frequent targets of policy interventions. Technology is positioned as playing a...

In 2018, the UK drew international attention when it announced the appointment of its first ‘Minister of Loneliness’, releasing a number of policies related to the goal of reducing loneliness in the population around the same time. Norway was among the first of other nations to follow suit, releasing its own loneliness strategy in 2019 as part of t...

Abstract In recent years, several countries have enacted policies on the topic of loneliness and its reduction. In them, assertions are often made that issues of loneliness and digital exclusion are intertwined, with technology positioned as playing a role in the causation and alleviation of loneliness. The elderly are among the most frequent targe...

Based on a qualitative study of the care-seeking experiences of gender variant youth and their parents, this paper examines experiences that lead families to seek interventions like puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy, as well as the meanings they place on these treatments in a Norwegian context. Much literature on the use of early int...

At the time of writing, the system of gender affirming care (GAC) in Norway is in a state of flux. Recent controversies have arisen around the monopoly on care held by the publicly funded gender clinic (Nasjonal behandlingstjeneste for transseksualisme, NBTS) and the emergence of private providers outside of NBTS. The current situation presents an...