The Madison Senior Living Understands the Importance of Socialization and Building & Maintaining Relationships

No matter our age, building relationships with others is fundamental in enriching our lives. Research has shown that people who enjoy healthy relationships, live longer and happier lives. Maintaining relationships as we age has numerous health benefits such as increasing our physical and mental health, increasing mental acuity, promoting laughter and more!

At The Madison Senior Living, I, as the Resident Services Director, play a pivotal role in helping to create opportunities for our residents to build relationships with their peers as well as helping to maintain these relationships through daily events. Oftentimes, aging adults are afraid of senior living settings. They see it as an end to their independence. Most fear being isolated from family and friends. One of the stigmas associated with senior living is, “I’m too young and active to be in senior living.” Therefore, many avoid it as an option all together. Unfortunately, this means they also lose out on the abundant opportunities to create new friendships and memories that this setting provides.

In our community, we have a group of residents who are professionals at welcoming new residents and helping them to feel at home as they settle in. We also ensure that new residents are invited to join all events, based on their preferences. Once our residents take advantage of these events, they often find themselves meeting new people or even connecting with old friends or neighbors. Through our daily events and programs, we often see close friendships form that continue. Residents begin having meals together or even take trips out of the community for shopping and family get-togethers.

It is my goal to help build and foster these relationships and break the stigmas associated with senior living communities. Resident Services helps residents build relationships through shared experiences. Friendships are built on commonalities we have with our neighbors. When residents come to events, they find other people interested in the same things. This is especially helpful for new residents. It can be difficult going to a new place and meeting new people but having an opportunity right away to laugh and enjoy company can be a very key part of integrating into a new community.

Part of how we can break the stigma around the belief, “I’m too young and active to live at a senior living community,” is to cater events to the needs of the residents. Many people that live here are quite active, so when crafting the calendar, I look for opportunities to add in events that get people moving. Some of these events are exercise groups, walking groups, water aerobics, volleyball, and chair yoga. There are many ways we stay physically active, but there’s nothing that keeps us young quite like our friends and laughter. When we’re not in the fitness center working out, you might catch us sharing a laugh or enjoying live entertainment at a happy hour, stretching our minds with trivia, or playing poker. Staying young and active best happens in the community.

Sources: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316

https://www.eddyseniorliving.com/latest-news/the-importance-of-senior-friendships-for-healthy-aging/