Loneliness and 15 smokes a day.

According to the National Institute on Aging the health risks of prolonged isolation are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. For those of us in the business of caring for seniors, this data hurts. We feel it. We see it. We don't like it. And we need to do more about it on behalf of Bettys everywhere. Here is an excerpt from the study:

"Social isolation and loneliness have even been estimated to shorten a person’s life span by as many as 15 years. People who are socially isolated or lonely (SI/L) are more likely to be admitted to nursing homes and the emergency room. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, people who are SI/L may get too little exercise and often don’t sleep well, which can increase the risk of stroke (by 32%), heart disease (by 29%), mental health disorders (by 26%) and premature mortality (by 26%), as well as other serious conditions."

When they put it that way, it actually sounds worse than a pack of smokes.

There is more than enough science and data here to justify a full-court press on social isolation for seniors. After all, while social isolation is bad for anyone, it hits particularly hard for aging Americans. A bit more data: According to a study by the Pew Research Center, older adults, yep that's seniors, spend over half of their waking hours alone. In researching this article I also came across this data, which is super eye opening and sad at the same time. The chart tells a simple and sad story . The older we get, the more lonely we are.

Very little case need to be made on why we must do more as a society to combat social isolation for seniors. They fought in our wars. Built our society. Raised children. Every generation stands on the shoulders of the generation before them.

Some people are working very hard on it. Literally doing the lords' work here on earth. One simple google search for "Groups that volunteer for seniors" turns up dozens of organizations hard at work. But other than volunteers, who bears the responsibility of combatting social isolation? And if not carrying the responsibility, who at least embraces it as a cause or mission? Who in our legislative bodies checks in on such things? If you are in the senior living industry, you know the answer already. It's not quite "No one." but it is definitely a gray area. Is it AARP? Is it the National Center on Aging? Is it the people who insure the health of seniors? When science tells us our seniors are subject to 15 smokes a day because they are lonely, who jumps up and says "We're on it!" Who puts the teeth into the effort? Im not sure I have the answer on a macro, cultural or societal level. But as a tech nerd in senior living for the past 30 years, I do have ideas.

We have a senior tech guru inside of our walls. Dale Savastan is our senior tech Oz in residence. He's been inside the walls and wiring of more senior living facilities than you could ever count. While most of our industry are simply installers of tech, Dale is a thinker of tech. Dale thinks about the outcomes of tech, not just the mechanics of it. (Like a lot of us Dale is a GenX-er. Looking north he cares for aging parents, and looking south he cares for children. So a good scoop of empathy comes with the Dale package.) If you ask Dale "what can tech do to help Betty from being lonely all day?" you really have to brace yourself, because he can whip through about fifteen scenarios where tech can do some serious work here. His anti-loneliness antenna goes way up, and he concocts real solutions that you can have in your facility fast. Yes, there are costs. And learning curves. And gizmos and gadgets you don't even know about. In an industry that is often set in its ways, there can be some resistance to what it takes to combat lonliness. But doing the right thing is never easy and without friction anyway.

We want to solve this. We need to solve this. And if we can't solve it today, we at least need to chop some major chips out of the trunk of it. My job here, our job at my company ELDR and our commitment here at The Betty Chronicles is to tackle issues like this. And that means we have to give voice to it. For the month of December we'll be putting a lot out there about seniors and social isolation in hopes that it creates new ideas, new thinking, and new investment in combatting social isolation for seniors. Please, when you see a story or news I share, pass it around. The more voice we give to this, the closer we come to solving the issue.

Bettys everywhere deserve our best effort on it.

- Mike

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