{"id":320,"date":"2018-03-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whiddon.com.au\/yourlife\/loneliness-social-isolation-older-australians\/"},"modified":"2024-03-18T01:20:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T01:20:38","slug":"loneliness-social-isolation-older-australians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.whiddon.com.au\/yourlife\/loneliness-social-isolation-older-australians\/","title":{"rendered":"Tackling loneliness and social isolation for older Australians"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we age, it is natural that our routines and lifestyles change. For various reasons, including health and social causes, it may become necessary to reduce certain activities that we’ve done our entire lives, like driving or even living alone. <\/span>For older people, both living at home and in aged care<\/a>, it is important to ensure these changes to their lives do not lead to feelings of loneliness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research has shown that loneliness has a very real effect on our physical and mental health. Clear links have been made between loneliness and depression, development of dementia and having similar health impacts to obesity, alcoholism and smoking 15 cigarettes a day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Loneliness and social isolation in aged care<\/h2>\n

In aged care homes, family engagement and visitor levels vary greatly and are dependent on a number of different factors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tackling social isolation and loneliness has been a key area of focus\u00a0for aged care provider Whiddon<\/a> for several years\u00a0 and\u00a0they have developed a relationship-based care\u00a0approach as part of their well-being based model of care.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent research around patterns of social connection in aged care confirms that the institutional nature of aged care means that relationships don\u2019t form within these environments in the same way that they would in the community. It suggests that residents need more support to form meaningful social connections in residential aged care.<\/span><\/p>\n

Loneliness isn\u2019t always about how many visitors you do or don\u2019t have, and is a very individual experience. At Whiddon, the dedicated care teams spend a great deal of time understanding what makes each resident tick, their personal history, interests and desires. The information is then used to tailor activities to the individual, improve daily social interactions, assist with forming friendships with other residents, and achieving a highly-personalised level of care.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tips\u00a0to reduce loneliness for older people at home:<\/h2>\n

For families with older relatives at home or in aged care, there are various ways you can help reduce feelings of loneliness:<\/span><\/p>\n