Lonely people are more likely to engage in unhealthy behavior.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nSince some people like to keep to themselves, isolation isn\u2019t always easy to recognize, and it\u2019s even more complicated to combat. <\/span>However, it is critically important to take the proper steps to ensure that assisted living homes are not isolating residents.\u00a0<\/span>Some older individuals used to get a thrill out of time spent interacting with family and friends. <\/span>Unfortunately, as they get older, a variety of circumstances cause interactions to dwindle.\u00a0<\/span>Sometimes, interfacing with others diminishes completely.\u00a0<\/span>Ordinarily, one would assume that relocating to a senior community with plenty of people would help ease the social isolation.\u00a0<\/span>This assumption is often wrong. <\/span>These once-sociable seniors end up sitting in their own rooms watching TV.\u00a0<\/span>Maybe isolation feels safer for some. It\u2019s less intimidating than venturing out in the hallway, finding new friends and engaging with strangers.\u00a0<\/span>As a result, social isolation can increase in assisted living homes, if it is not carefully monitored and consistently managed.<\/span><\/p>\nSUBJECTIVE VERSUS OBJECTIVE ISOLATION<\/b><\/h2>\n It is difficult to deal with residents experiencing isolation without understanding all the working components.<\/span><\/p>\nI.<\/b> There Are Two Types of Isolation:<\/b><\/p>\n\nSubjective isolation <\/span><\/i>refers<\/span> to how individual experience is perceived internally.<\/span><\/li>\nObjective isolation <\/span><\/i>is<\/span> a quantifiable status that can be determined outside of an individual\u2019s perception.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nII.<\/b> Examples of Subjective and Objective Isolation:<\/b><\/h2>\n\nSubjective Isolation: Measured by a sense of loneliness, quality of relationships, quality of social support, sense of belonging, and meaningful social engagement.<\/span><\/li>\nObjective Isolation: Measured by the size and structure of the social network, type and amount of social support, frequency of contacts, amount of participation in social activities, and a conduciveness of building social connectivity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nOVERLOOKED SOCIAL ISOLATION<\/b><\/h2>\n The result of ongoing social isolation is detrimental to the health of seniors. <\/span>This is why Residential Assisted Living National Association is teaching assisted living homeowners and operators on how to re-engage socially isolated seniors in new ways.\u00a0<\/span>Residents need choices as to how they prefer to communicate and connect with others.\u00a0<\/span>According to the <\/span>American Association of Retired Persons <\/span>(AARP), about 8 million people over age 50 are affected by isolation.\u00a0<\/span>The same report indicates that prolonged isolation poses a health risk as severe as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.\u00a0<\/span>Research across the board shows that prolonged isolation can lead to a weakened immune system, heart disease, depression, and even dementia.<\/span><\/p>\nCONNECTING TO COMBAT ISOLATION<\/b><\/h2>\n Creating connections causes residents to hurdle over the obstacle of isolation. <\/span>Caregivers can find creative ways to connect individuals with similar interests, backgrounds, and hobbies.\u00a0<\/span>RAL homes should enable family members to get a glimpse into what\u2019s going on in their loved one\u2019s lives. This could be done by means of routine phone calls, video chats, and various smartphone apps like FaceTime, Skype, and WhatsApp. <\/span>It is important to keep residents connected.<\/span><\/p>\nFOCUS ON 4 TYPES OF CONNECTIONS<\/b><\/h2>\n\nConnecting residents to each other.<\/b><\/li>\nConnecting family members to residents.<\/b><\/li>\nConnecting staff to residents.<\/b><\/li>\nConnecting vision\/hearing impaired residents<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nEncouraging RAL staff to converse with seniors allows them to become better acquainted and accessible to each resident. <\/span>Impaired individuals are particularly vulnerable.\u00a0<\/span>Some assisted living homes have started using Alexa to help residents who are visually or hearing impaired. <\/span>Augmented communication devices lead to increased engagement – more engagement combats isolation.<\/span><\/p>\nSENIORS EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY<\/b><\/h2>\n We are living in the age of technology, and recent studies show that many seniors are refusing to get left behind. <\/span>Over the past five years, older adults are accepting technology, especially as a means of communicating. <\/span>Technology is considered a necessity in today\u2019s society \u2013 and seniors are escaping the era of allowing age and aptitude to handicap them. <\/span>The need to make meaningful connections is overcoming generational gaps. <\/span>Aging successfully is difficult to do without utilizing digital devices. <\/span>Regardless of the level of technological experience, residential assisted living homes are empowering seniors to embrace the future. <\/span>The future is now.\u00a0<\/span>This is why RALNA is empowering the industry with the technological fuel needed to empower seniors to connect. <\/span>Seniors are embracing the concept, and the most critical factor of success is the utilization.<\/span><\/p>\nINSPIRING THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY<\/strong><\/h2>\nStart by using technology around seniors in residential assisted living homes. <\/span>In order to inspire members to adopt technology, they need to witness it in action and see the results.\u00a0<\/span>When caregivers use technology frequently, it inspires residents to gain interest, get engaged, and accelerate their adoption of integrating devices.\u00a0<\/span>This is also important because increased technological involvement has the potential to increase life expectancy and length of stay in residential assisted living homes.\u00a0<\/span>Use it or lose it’s<\/span><\/i> more than a fancy clich\u00e9 when it comes to technology, it can be a matter of life or death for seniors aiming to avoid isolation or recover from it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many people enjoy the seasons of solitude, whether being engrossed in a book, walking through the woods, or listening to music. However, being alone and feeling lonely are two separate realities. Loneliness is a struggle for many seniors in assisted living, even though they are often physically surrounded by others. How do your residents perceive their community, social support, and feeling of belonging? There are systems to solves social isolation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Ways to Help Residents Who Are Socially Isolated<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n