Loneliness in Seniors: A Critical Issue

Loneliness in Seniors: A Critical Issue

Think of the last time you saw one of your best friends and how it made you feel. Had it been a while since the two of you had a chance to catch up? It’s possible that you were anxious to see them because you had exciting news, or maybe you were grateful for a chance to vent to a close friend about an incident that made you angry.
Even if we have conflicting schedules or busy days, children, or work, or school, we anticipate seeing our friends and try to make time for them when we can.

Imagine as you get older that it becomes harder for you to go out with your friends because of physical ailments. Perhaps some of your friends are no longer with you. You may feel that you are “too old” to make new friends, or you may be too tired to make plans with current friends. You would not be alone in experiencing these feelings.

Geriatricians at the University of California, San Francisco, asked 1,604 adults age 60 and older how often they felt isolated or left out, or lacked companionship. The researchers were attempting to quantify the feeling of loneliness — a sense of not having meaningful contact with others, accompanied by painful distress. A substantial amount of these older adults – just over 43 percent – reported feeling lonely on a consistent basis.

Answers were recorded in 2002 and every two years after through 2008. The number of older adults who reported feeling lonely didn’t change significantly over that period, according to Dr. Carla Perissinotto, an assistant clinical professor at U.C.S.F. and the study’s lead author. About 13 percent of older adults said they were often lonely, while 30 percent said loneliness was sometimes an issue.

Lonely older adults also were 45 percent more likely to die than seniors who felt meaningfully connected with others, even after results were adjusted for factors like depression, socioeconomic status and existing health conditions.

One issue that often contributes to loneliness in seniors is that some individuals see their age as being a burden, or they assume that being alone ‘goes along with aging’. Individuals may be less likely to reach out to family members or old friends in fear of being bothersome.

Barbara Dane, an 85-year-old jazz and blues singer who lives in Oakland, Calif., has seen this occur frequently in her relationship circles.

“As you get older, you see the world writing you off,” she said, adding, “So you tend to become passive and think, ‘I don’t want to bother anybody.’  You lose contact with your own kind, your tribe. And before you know it, you’re feeling bad.”

“It’s kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your eyes start to fasten on the sunset, and you start walking toward it.”

Another major issue is that loneliness can be dangerous. Loneliness can cause depression, which can have serious psychological and even physical affects. Andrew Steptoe, director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College, London, has been studying this subject. “There is growing evidence that both loneliness and social isolation are related to biological processes that may increase health risk, including changes in immune and inflammatory processes and disruption of the stress-related hormones,” he wrote in an e-mail.

How Oxnard Family Circle Can Help

Oxnard Famly Circle Adult Day Health Care Center is a community based program designed specifically to provide quality senior care and socialization opportunities. One of the great benefits of Oxnard Family Circle is our participants ability to make and keep friends within the center. Our facility is modeled to have individuals sitting in groups for activities and meals to encourage constant socialization during the day. Individuals may sit wherever they please, but often times participants will form groups amongst themselves and have a ‘regular seat’ at one particular table with their friends.

In addition to socialization opportunities, participants at Oxnard Family Circle ADHC enjoy being able to reach out to others and make a difference. In a recent project to help support our troops, participants created care packages for soldiers. Social workers asked veterans what they would have wanted if they were currently serving in the military, and many said they would appreciate home-baked cookies. Participants made cookies and decorated them to be shipped off to the troops, which provided many individuals with a great sense of pride and accomplishment. One participant recalled that as she was icing a cookie she thought of her long line of relatives that served in the military and how much they would appreciate a gesture such as this, and it made her extremely happy to know that she would be providing a small breath of relief for the soldiers who would receive her care package.

Oxnard Family Circle offers unique and character-building activities that are not offered in in-home care, as well as the important component of daily socialization. We provide Zumba dancing two times a week, which is a fun means of exercise and social interaction. We also provide nursing care, physical and occupational therapy, two meals a day, and transportation to and from our center.

Adult Day Health Care is one of the greatest options for lonely seniors. Not only does Oxnard Family Circle provide the medical care that often becomes necessary as we get older, we provide the socialization that is necessary at any point in life.