Reach out to your Seniors– Help fight loneliness

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Alone in a bed, a nurse comes in just a couple times a day, rarely any visitors or even none at all, while being too old to do much. With no one to talk it’s easy to become depressed or feel down. Just one simple phone call a day for a few minutes can bring joy and build relationships and allow one to connect. 

Even if your grandparent or senior friend isn’t in such a situation, if you can, you should give them a call. Adults are lonely, as with age, families and friends move away or pass away, and mobility becomes a big issue. Communication can become more difficult with hearing loss and decreased vision, which makes it seem like a bigger hurdle to deal with. But, healthy human relationships are life changing and are great for mental health, which in turn affects overall health. And with the number of health problems that the elderly now face, this is absolutely vital.

You, yes you, have the power to change and help this. Even if you don’t know any seniors, you can still help out as long as you have the will to do so. For one, you can always volunteer at nursing homes and visit. You could become a pen pal, which is quite low effort and has a great feeling of going back to the traditional forms of communication.

And another big thing are a couple programs. One is called Friend to Friend America and another is called Little Brothers. I’ve included links below so go to their websites and check them out! These two programs are dedicated to communicating and connecting to seniors and just, being their friends! They’re great non profit programs that can help a lot. Just donating or volunteering your time will make a difference.

http://littlebrothers.org/
https://friendtofriendamerica.org/
https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/10-17-14-facts-about-senior-isolation/

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