The benefits people hope for from befriending are often ordinary ones: a regular conversation, somebody who remembers an interest or a contact to look forward to. Research has explored these experiences, but it does not support a promise that every befriending service will reduce loneliness or improve health.
This guide separates what participants report from what studies can establish. It also explains why findings about a particular volunteer scheme or research programme cannot automatically be applied to a paid call.
What counts as befriending in research?
Studies use the word for different arrangements. These may involve matched volunteers, regular home visits, one-to-one telephone conversations or group calls. The people taking part, training, contact frequency and length of the programme can vary.
Our guide to what befriending is explains the wider meaning. When reading a claim about benefits, ask what actually happened in that study, rather than relying on the service label.
What do participants say they value?
A 2011 UK evaluation by Cattan and colleagues reported findings from 40 in-depth interviews with older recipients of a national telephone-befriending scheme across eight sites in 2007–2008. Themes included ordinary conversation, a trusted and reliable service, belonging and increased confidence.
Those interviews help explain why a contact can matter to someone. They are not a comparison proving what would have happened without the service, and they do not tell us that every recipient had the same experience.
For someone considering befriending, the practical questions might be: would I value a regular chat? Would I prefer a familiar person? Is the arrangement reliable and easy for me to use? Those preferences are meaningful even when a health outcome has not been established.
What do systematic reviews show?
A 2017 systematic review by Siette and colleagues included 14 trials with 2,411 participants across physical and mental health settings. The authors described a small overall benefit across patient-reported primary outcomes, but found no statistically significant benefit for individual outcomes including loneliness, quality of life and wellbeing.
The review did not allow firm conclusions about those specific outcomes. Different populations, programmes and measures also make it difficult to treat befriending as one standard intervention. It would be misleading to turn this review into “befriending is proven to cure loneliness”.
A research result can be uncertain without making an individual’s positive experience unimportant. The two questions are different: “Did this person value their calls?” and “Does this programme reliably change a measured outcome compared with a control?”
A telephone trial with encouraging results—and clear limits
A 2021 trial by Kahlon and colleagues randomly assigned 240 adults receiving Meals on Wheels services in Central Texas to an empathy-focused calling programme or no calls. The four-week programme, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, reported improvement on the UCLA loneliness measure and other outcomes; a second loneliness measure did not show a statistically significant difference.
Callers received brief training. Contact was initially daily for five days, then participants could choose fewer calls, with at least two a week. That is a specific programme and context, rather than evidence about an occasional commercial conversation.
The short follow-up, participant group and delivery arrangements matter when interpreting the findings. The study does not establish that any phone call produces the same effects, or that our service treats depression or anxiety.
Reliability and matching matter in practice
The 2015 PLINY telephone-friendship trial illustrates an implementation problem. It closed early after difficulties delivering the intervention; many participants assigned to receive it did not do so. This limits conclusions about effectiveness.
For readers choosing a service, the useful lesson is to ask about the arrangements as well as the hoped-for benefit. Who will call? What happens if someone is unavailable? How are concerns handled? Is there a coordinator or other support?
Our guide to choosing a listening service brings together practical checks. A provider should be clear about its own policies rather than relying on a general research claim.
What can you reasonably look for?
Conversation you can take part in
The format needs to fit your communication, access and energy needs. You may prefer a visit, a phone call, text-based contact or something else. Our telephone and face-to-face comparison considers the differences without assuming one is best for everyone.
An arrangement you understand
Check the length, frequency, cost, matching process and cancellation terms. Ask whether there is a waiting list or a minimum commitment. Our free and paid befriending guide explains why cost alone does not establish suitability.
Clear boundaries
Ordinary conversation is different from treatment, personal care, emergency monitoring or practical assistance. If you need those forms of support, ask the appropriate professional or service. Our guides compare listening services and therapy and befriending and companionship care.
How do you know whether it suits you?
You can consider the experience in practical terms. Did you understand the arrangement? Were your boundaries respected? Was the contact accessible? Would you choose to have another conversation?
There is no requirement to report feeling better or to continue with something that does not suit you. If an arrangement is disappointing, raise it with the organisation or explore a different option. Befriending can sit alongside friendships, community activities and appropriate professional support.
What the research does not tell us about our service
The studies linked here did not evaluate Let’s Just Talk OK. Their findings cannot establish outcomes for our customers. We do not use participant accounts from those studies as testimonials for our business.
If loneliness, low mood or distress is affecting daily life, speak to your GP or another suitable healthcare professional. A booked befriending conversation cannot assess or treat a mental health condition.
If you need urgent help
If someone’s life is at risk or you cannot keep yourself or someone else safe, call 999 or go to A&E. In England, for urgent mental health help, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option, or ask for an urgent GP appointment. See the NHS urgent-help guidance and our urgent help page.
For free listening support, call Samaritans on 116 123, day or night.
Our phone befriending option
Let’s Just Talk OK offers booked, phone-only befriending for UK adults aged 18 and over. Calls are ordinary conversation, not therapy, counselling, care or crisis support, and no particular emotional or health outcome is promised.
Research and support sources checked 3 November 2026. Publication years identify the evidence discussed; this is not an exhaustive systematic review.
