Fighting Senior Living Loneliness

February 26 is National Letter to an Elder Day, a day that encourages people to take a few moments and write a letter to a senior in your community to brighten their day. The purpose of National Letter to an Elder Day is to help fight loneliness in senior communities.
 
The senior community has long suffered from an epidemic and it isn’t sickness or disease - it’s loneliness. Loneliness and isolation affects nearly half of the U.S. population over age 60. 

​On average, about a quarter of people over 65 experienced social isolation before the pandemic. Since then, those numbers have grown immensely. Loneliness and social isolation increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, mental health disorders including dementia, and premature mortality.

​Many seniors do not receive consistent visits or communication from family members and friends outside of their senior living community or household. 

​​Here at Melody senior living in Colorado Springs, we do our best to create fun community activities and environments that create healthy social connections with other residents and our staff.

​Weekly activities and outings, as well as resident-led clubs, help to bring together residents and staff to decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation within our communities.

​We all could use an extra pick-me-up sometimes though. Receiving a letter can boost spirits and bring some unexpected joy to a senior’s day. Some seniors, unfortunately, never get visits from family members, or visits are very few and far between. 

So, take some time today to write a letter to a senior you know, or maybe one you don’t, and drop it off at your nearby senior living community to bring a little extra joy to your community for National Letter to an Elder Day.

​Engaging with others helps to create social wellness as well as emotional wellness, these are two key factors of our 8 Dimensions of Wellness which Melody Living strives to implement into daily life. Older adults thrive in an atmosphere focusing on the dimensions of wellness. 
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Come explore and experience the community that Melody Living has to offer. Give us a call at 719.900.1540 for our independent living community and 719.960.4005 for our assisted living community and memory care communities to schedule your VIP tour.
 
A Life in Harmony™ is waiting for you.