Ensuring Social Wellness As We Age
Cultivating healthy relationships brings us more happiness and an overall positive well-being. A strong social network can help us handle tough times with more resilience and gives us more joyful experiences, both of which are important for a healthier outlook and lifestyle. Simple human connections are vital to all of us, especially the elderly who may be home-bound, feeling isolated, or even depressed upon seeing their friends pass.
Social wellness is about the role relationships play in our overall well-being, quality of those relationships, and how the connectedness feeds our mental and emotional health. Research shows that strong social networks can help people live longer, reduce stress, have a positive impact on health and create an overall good mood and better self esteem.
Studies tell us everyone needs a wolfpack! For seniors, ensuring social wellness is important because of their life stage. Older adults are more vulnerable to isolation and loneliness due to increasing health and mobility issues, grieving the loss of friends and having a smaller social circle.
"Loneliness can be hard to spot, but there are ways to assess whether your aging loved one is lonely or isolated, based on their living situation and health condition,” says Susan Nimnuan, Vice President of BrightStar Care of Naples/Ft. Myers.
Susan recommends asking your loved one to take a Social Wellness Assessment like the one from DBSA.org. Reflecting on the answers your loved one provides in this assessment can help steer the conversation with him/her as well as find the right resources to improve social wellness.
Another good resource is the Social Wellness Checklist published by the National Institute of Health. This guide offers ideas for improving social networks and becoming more socially engaged – both for your loved one and their caretakers.
Susan also suggests considering in-home care, such as BrightStar Care, which offers companionship services. Simply having a companion to assist elderly with daily living can increase social wellness.
Cultivating healthy relationships brings us more happiness and an overall positive well-being. A strong social network can help us handle tough times with more resilience and gives us more joyful experiences, both of which are important for a healthier outlook and lifestyle. Simple human connections are vital to all of us, especially the elderly who may be home-bound, feeling isolated, or even depressed upon seeing their friends pass.Social wellness is about the role relationships play in our overall well-being, quality of those relationships, and how the connectedness feeds our mental and emotional health. Research shows that strong social networks can help people live longer, reduce stress, have a positive impact on health and create an overall good mood and better self esteem.
Studies tell us everyone needs a wolfpack! For seniors, ensuring social wellness is important because of their life stage. Older adults are more vulnerable to isolation and loneliness due to increasing health and mobility issues, grieving the loss of friends and having a smaller social circle.
"Loneliness can be hard to spot, but there are ways to assess whether your aging loved one is lonely or isolated, based on their living situation and health condition,” says Susan Nimnuan, Vice President of BrightStar Care of Naples/Ft. Myers.
Susan recommends asking your loved one to take a Social Wellness Assessment like the one from DBSA.org. Reflecting on the answers your loved one provides in this assessment can help steer the conversation with him/her as well as find the right resources to improve social wellness.
Another good resource is the Social Wellness Checklist published by the National Institute of Health. This guide offers ideas for improving social networks and becoming more socially engaged – both for your loved one and their caretakers.Susan also suggests considering in-home care, such as BrightStar Care, which offers companionship services. Simply having a companion to assist elderly with daily living can increase social wellness.