Social isolation is a detrimental issue that significantly affects older adults in the family. Those who experience it have a high chance of developing conditions like heart disease, depression, stroke, and anxiety. Some even commit suicide from loneliness during retirement.
According to recent studies conducted on older adults, 50 percent of individuals aged over 60 are more likely to experience social isolation and loneliness. Another survey revealed that one of the many reasons for this issue is the lack of companionship, which is prevalent in older women.
Connecting with people is much more crucial to older adults. Read below to get some valuable insights into creating and maintaining social connections in your senior years.
Benefits of Social Connections
Building and maintaining social relationships offers many health benefits to older adults. Here are some of them.
Reduced stress
Stress is one of the leading causes of numerous illnesses among older adults. It increases the risk of life-threatening conditions, including cardiovascular disease, depression, and diabetes. And unfortunately, a lack of meaningful social connection could significantly stress seniors out.
A solid support group can help alleviate and prevent stress in older adults. Constantly engaging with seniors gives them a sense of belonging, reducing their worries about social isolation.
Improved cognitive function
Participating in social activities regularly exposes seniors to new stimulants. This is vital to keep their brains active and responsive, allowing them to improve memory retention and problem-solving. With better memory, they can reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, which is also a condition that many older women face.
Remaining physically fit
Maintaining physical activities can help prevent common diseases like heart failure and diabetes. Aside from that, it helps seniors improve their immune systems. Even something as simple as walking can help older adults boost their bodies against certain conditions.
Moreover, older adults are at a high risk of falls because they lose balance over time. Falls may seem simple initially, but they can be fatal to many seniors. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that a significant percentage of older adults die from unintentional falls.
This rate was higher in men than in women. However, many senior women were reported to have one or more falls. Through proper and regular exercise, they can improve their balance and coordination, reducing the likelihood of falls.
Seniors who often socialize are motivated to stay physically active. For instance, they’ll likely leave their houses and do various activities with their loved ones, whether prolonged walks with family members or exercising with friends.
Improving an Older Adult’s Social Connection
There are many practices seniors in the family can do to improve their social connection and gain the many health benefits of doing so. Here are some of the best tips they can consider.
Live in a friendly area
Location plays a crucial role in a senior’s social connection. Living in a welcoming neighborhood or near loved ones makes meaningful interactions more accessible. Instead of driving or commuting across town, they can walk and meet for a quick chat next door.
This easy access encourages them to maintain active social connections. Plus, it enables them to be more physically active by walking around. It may provide a significant change to older adults, but moving is an excellent idea if it offers better interactions than their previous living conditions.
Engage in volunteer work
Volunteering is great because it gives older adults a sense of purpose, allowing them to connect with more people and keep an active lifestyle. That’s why this is one of the best activities they can do during retirement.
You can make this activity more exciting and meaningful for older adults by encouraging them to select a cause they want to support. That will inspire them to move around and help more people.
Meet new people
Acquiring and maintaining new friends as adults can be challenging because it’s not the same as going to school or work, where we see our peers daily. However, because social connections are necessary for seniors, they must conquer such obstacles to create meaningful relationships during retirement.
Aside from getting to know the neighbors, they can meet new people by becoming members of various interest groups. These include book clubs, walking clubs, and wellness clubs. Having a community with like-minded individuals makes it easier to create new friendships.
Meanwhile, building and maintaining new friendships requires constant attention. While no specific rules exist for maintaining friendships, some practices can help. For instance, seniors can express their interests in what their new friends do and what they love. They can ask simple and eventful questions like how their weekends went or what they’ve been doing lately.
Explore online connections
According to recent studies on seniors on social media, Meta’s Facebook is the most popular platform for individuals aged over 60. Seniors claim that their primary reason for using Facebook is social bridging and keeping in touch with family and friends.
Older adults interested in pursuing romantic relationships in retirement can also use various online channels to look for companions. Dating sites like SeniorMatch, SilverSingles, and OurTime are dedicated to older adults who want to find such connections with fellow seniors.
Most of these platforms offer easy navigation and seamless communication features for seniors to connect better with their ideal partners.
Seniors can also look for partners on platforms like Bumble, Tinder, and Hinge, which have a more diverse age range. However, getting significant matches from these sites may take time since young adults predominantly use them. There’s also a misconception that older men are more likely to find connections in these channels. But older women can also find success here.
Meanwhile, older adults, both men and women, must know how to handle the age gap to avoid damaging their relationships and feel more isolated. You must help them set their expectations to prevent such issues.
Build recurring activities
Creating routines with different people is a great way to help senior citizens maintain social interactions. Having a regular schedule of activities, like weekly group meetings or walks around the neighborhood, will keep them active and engaged.
This is also an excellent idea to reduce the pressure of planning new activities, which can be discouraging and stressful for seniors. Plus, it gives them a sense of purpose that inspires them to move forward after retirement.
Among the most popular activities that older women do in groups or alone are gardening, yoga, dancing, and cooking.
Meaningful Relationships for Better Health
Crafting and maintaining meaningful connections is not just vital to keep older adults engaged during retirement. You must spare them that isolation and keep them physically and mentally active.
There are many opportunities, like the ones mentioned above, to help older adults improve their social connections and achieve their benefits. So, you must encourage seniors at home to spend more time with their loved ones and meet new people.
