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Three Major Health Benefits To Socializing
What’s your secret to staying happy and healthy? Good diet, be active, drink more water? There’s no perfect recipe for happiness, but one thing that research suggests is that you can’t have it without strong social connections. Who knew that socializing is an important component to being healthy?
As human beings, we crave interactions with others. As we age, maintaining constant communication and connection has become an important aspect of keeping us happy and healthy.
Making time or having regular get-togethers with friends and family has become increasingly harder due to more people moving further from home, the option of remote work, health concerns, or recently the pandemic, and overall varied and hectic schedules. Because of this, senior apartments and 55+ active adult communities have become many people’s preferred choice for enjoying the convenience of easy connections with similar-aged neighbors and friends.
Below are three major health benefits of choosing to surround yourself with a community that helps you prioritize social connections.
Brain Health
Social interactions play an important role in cognitive and brain development at an early age. Infants pick up social cues from verbal and physical interactions, learn the world around them, and continue the behavior throughout their lives.
The importance of connections hasn’t grown less important as we grow older. It actually seems to be MORE important to stay social and active.
Brain health scientists show socialization is linked to lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. According to research, an active social life may help slow down cognitive decline and dementia by as much as 70%. How incredible is it that you can help protect your brain from memory loss by staying social and leading a higher life satisfaction.
Mental Health
No one wants to feel alone, but there are actual negative implications on the body from loneliness. The impact of loneliness on an older adult can have a different effect on health than in any other age group. According to a new study by UCSF, the feeling of loneliness has been linked to higher risks for a variety of mental conditions among older adults such as anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, and even death.
Often Aging adults represent an at-risk population regarding mental health concerns due to isolation. According to the American Public Health Association, connections are one of the most effective ways for 55+ adults to improve their mental health, which boosts mood, maximizes cognition potential, and enhances memory recall. Who knew that something as simple as investing in your friendships could reap so many inexpensive health rewards.
Physical Health
The US Surgeon General released the statement that “Social isolation is as bad for your health as smoking. Loneliness is comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day — a higher risk than drinking alcohol, obesity, or air pollution.” That is how serious lack of socialization could affect your quality of life and physical health.
Many studies have linked social connection with a positive effect on physical health. Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common forms of the disease to develop in older adults, but according to the research from Maastricht University Medical Centre, being socially active could lead to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
Everyone needs a little boost in the immune system, especially during this time. Did you know social connections and relationships with others make our immune systems more robust? People with more social connections show less susceptibility to disease, a stronger antibody response to vaccines, and heal more quickly from injuries.
Many 55+ communities offer group activities and wellness classes. A recent study has also found that people who exercised in a group helped decrease stress levels and had a better improvement in overall physical, mental, and emotional health.
Becca Levy, PhD, a professor from Yale School of Public Health, recently published a book, Breaking the Age Code, in which her research proves that how you perceive aging shapes one’s aging process and health span. So to put it plainly, if you are living in a community that promotes healthy aging with other active adults that are living full and robust lives, that can result in the improvement of your physical and mental health.
Happier and Healthier, Together
For many people, growing older means adapting to new challenges like living in a different environment or feeling difficulty in maintaining a social routine. Choosing to live in an active retirement community where you have friends at your fingertips and can easily show up and participate in onsite events and classes is a popular option among 55+ adults to combat feelings of loneliness.
If social distancing is the reason that prevents you from in-person interactions, technology could be a great way to bring people together. Don’t forget to set up daily phone calls or video chats to talk with your family and friends with a simple click.
At Arden, We Build Well to Live Well. In our 55+ active adult apartment homes, you’ll enjoy a community designed to create fully accessible spaces for social interactions with other vibrant and active adults. If you are interested in joining our community, please fill out our contact form here for more information, and our friendly team will reach out to you shortly!
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