From A Woman's Perspective: May 4th, 2024 “Strong Social Connections Linked to Longevity in Seniors”

Strong Social Connections Linked to Longevity in Seniors

Happy Saturday, Marilyn. “May the 4th be with you!” There is a powerful, albeit often-overlooked, force that predicts the longevity of our seniors. It’s community. 

Strong social connections and a sense of community have been shown to have a positive impact on senior’s physical and mental health. Being part of a supportive community can reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness, which are risk factors for various health problems, including depression, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline. 

Additionally, communities often provide opportunities for seniors to stay active, engaged and mentally stimulated, which can contribute to overall well-being and longevity.

In fact, there's a wealth of scientific research that shows community adds years to our lives. The mechanisms aren’t well understood yet, but it’s thought that having strong social relationships creates lifestyle changes as well as physiological changes such as lowering stress hormones and inflammation, both of which can worsen age-related disease. 

The force of community is one compelling reason to consider downsizing, even when you are still coping with the work and responsibility of owning a big family home. Many seniors I work with are choosing to sell the family home and move into communities where they can foster social relationships and battle loneliness and isolation.

Take for example, my lovely client Catrina. She has a new grandbaby she is completely gaga over, but her children moved to a more affordable part of the city making visiting an arduous transit commute for Catrina who doesn’t drive. Time to leave the suburbs and find a condo within an easy walk to the new, precious love of her life. Downsizing done right! Not because she had to, but because she wanted to.

Then there is Dave. Wow! He is the busiest retired guy I know. He jokes that doesn’t know how he ever had time to work, what with his pickleball and theatre group. For him, taking care of a house was interfering with his hobbies. He wanted more time, freedom and money to live his retirement years to their fullest. Now he can turn the key on his condo, travel, socialize and not worry about the dandelions creeping across the lawn or the roof that was going to need replacing soon. Downsizing done right!

Marilyn, I could regale our listeners with dozens of examples of clients who decided to downsize so that their social relationships could be strengthened and preserved. They all had reached the point when the quality of their lives meant more than hanging onto a house. And the good news is that by doing so, they likely increased the quantity of their lives, too. 

If living alone has become lonely, I want you to know you have options. Changing where you live is a very big decision, but one that can pay big dividends to health and wealth in the end. I’d love to share with you property options that combat loneliness. I have some very good recommendations. You can call me at 416-460-5636 and we’ll chat. 

But not all remedies to loneliness involve moving! There are programs and resources geared to combating isolation in seniors. At SMART Realty Solutions we believe in creating a plan that suits your timeline, so we have compiled a list of programs and resources that help seniors with loneliness. This is available on our website, smartrealtysolution.com. Like everything at SMART Realty Solutions, this is free of cost or obligation. Or you can call me at 416-460-5636 and we’ll send it out to you. 

Just a quick reminder too of our Community Paper Shredding and CHATS Fundraising Event. Full details and registration on our website as well. One of the reasons we support CHATS as our charity of choice is because of the amazing work they do supporting seniors to overcome isolation.

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