How Living Situations Impact Isolation in Seniors

It’s no secret that humans are social creatures. Connection with others is a crucial part of thriving and without this, we often start to suffer. Indeed, loneliness has been linked to many health issues, including a higher risk of obesity, heart disease, depression, and anxiety.

While connection matters for everyone, the topic is even more crucial in later life. It’s easy to get lonely as we age, especially if mobility is limited or loved ones have passed away.

This is why it’s so important to talk about loneliness and isolation in seniors.

In a previous post, we talked about the various solutions for loneliness in seniors, including the importance of finding meaningful friendships instead of surface-level connections.

Today, we’re taking the concept further and looking at how different living situations can impact loneliness and isolation in seniors. This matters because some seemingly healthy changes can actually make seniors feel more isolated.

Aging in Place

Aging in place simply means staying in your own home as you get older. It’s a powerful idea, with more than 75% of seniors hoping to do so.

Makes sense, right? Aging in place allows seniors to live in a familiar environment, with all the memories and social connections that are already nearby.

The Social Benefits

If a senior already has a good social network, then aging in place can be powerful socially. They will already know many people and likely be known in the community, making it easier to form new friendships and get support when needed.

Plus, if the senior has lived in the same community for most of their life, there are probably other long-standing community members, perhaps with similar life histories and values.

The Social Risks

Despite keeping people in a familiar environment, aging in place has multiple issues for social contact.

One of these is mobility.

Seniors are often able to stay connected well enough when they are fit and healthy but become increasingly isolated if they can no longer safely drive or if walking becomes much more difficult.

Mental health may play a role as well, where conditions like depression make it more difficult for the senior to get out and connect with others.

Plus, many seniors aging in place may be living alone. This can be incredibly lonely, even more so if a spouse has recently died and the home is filled with reminders of a shared life.

Living alone also means that there aren’t any daily regular interactions. Social interactions need to be sought after instead and may feel more artificial than the natural connections of home or work life.

And, if the senior lives alone, there’s no one to look out for signs of an issue or to gently nudge them to get out.

How To Promote Positive Outcomes

Family members can help by regularly checking in with the senior and encouraging social connections. If they’re feeling isolated, you could help them to brainstorm and find new social connections.

Senior centers are a great place to begin here, as most will have some programs to help seniors stay socially engaged.

Downsizing

Many seniors won’t be able to safely age in the same home that they raised their kids in. Doing so is often too expensive and could also be unsafe, especially if there are stairs. Plus, large homes often require a decent amount of maintenance, which gets trickier as people age.

Downsizing is a helpful alternative. This is the process of moving to a smaller and more manageable home, one that the senior may be able to live safely in on their own.

The Social Benefits

The main benefit of downsizing is that seniors still get to live alone and be independent, which helps with their mood and could keep them more socially engaged.

Also, some downsized homes may be part of senior communities or be designed with seniors in mind. If this is the case, the senior may be living close to people of a similar age, which is powerful for promoting social connection.

The Social Risks

Downsizing is most risky when seniors are moving a decent way away from their original homes. Doing so can mean they have much further to travel to connect with friends and family.

If the distance is considerable, like the senior is moving to another state, they may need to build an entirely new social network.

There are also the other issues we highlighted before, including mobility and living alone.

How To Promote Positive Outcomes

With downsizing, it’s crucial to think carefully about the physical location the senior is moving to. Will they still be able to meet their friends regularly? What about their favorite social activities?

If they’re moving outside their current social network, you may need to help them find and develop new social connections.

Think about what’s available in the area too. Are there clubs the senior could join? Regular walking groups or other activities? Are there many people their age or is the community mostly younger?

Transport matters too. If the senior can’t drive, are there good alternative options?

Moving In With Family

Declining physical or cognitive health may make it unsafe for seniors to live alone. Moving the senior in with family is an obvious alternative. Doing so saves money and ensures there are people on hand to provide support.

There are obvious social benefits to the senior moving in with family, yet there are some under-recognized risks as well.

The Social Benefits

Living with family can be powerful socially. Seniors get the chance to connect with their adult children regularly and perhaps with grandchildren and other family members as well.

These intergenerational connections can even help the senior feel purposeful and happier than they would otherwise. This is especially true for seniors with strong family values.

One of the best parts is small natural contact with people the senior already knows and cares about. It’s a similar environment and feeling to what the senior would have had while raising their own kids.

The Social Risks

Moving a senior in doesn’t always work well. Differences in values, perspectives, and needs can easily lead to conflict.

Even when this doesn’t happen, living with family can sometimes be isolating rather than supportive for seniors.

This is most likely if the senior feels like they’re an ‘extra’ to family life, where they don’t quite fit in and don’t have a role. The senior may feel left out if the family is busy and has plenty of activities. It can even feel like no one really wants to spend time with the senior.

Such issues are worse if the senior left behind their own social network to move in with family.

Imagine that, you spend most of the day alone and when the family does come back, they’re tired and have already had their fill of social engagement.

Also remember that family connections aren’t enough on their own. Seniors will still need to form deep and meaningful connections outside of the family to truly thrive.

How To Promote Positive Outcomes

Planning and honest communication are key when moving an older adult in with you (or when moving in with them). It’s important to talk about expectations, including what everyone wants from the experience and what they don’t.

What does the senior think about the social side of things? Are they expecting most of their social contact to come from family members? Or, are they planning to build new social networks?

What about the family? How much time is there to connect with the senior? It’s crucial to carve out some time for valuable connections, like family outings or game nights.

The senior may also be able to help with younger family members, like assisting grandchildren with homework. Doing so strengthens intergenerational bonds and can help the senior’s life feel more purposeful. 

Retirement Communities

Retirement communities offer a great chance for seniors to enjoy life and bond with those of a similar age. Such communities are normally designed for independent living and may offer a range of social activities.

The Social Benefits

Retirement communities have a lot going for them.

First, they’re a natural source of social connection, bringing together people of a similar age and level of physical ability.

Also, because they’re designed with seniors in mind, they’re likely to be easy to navigate and have enhanced security. Large communities may even have alternative options for transport or work with local community organizations to help seniors to get around.

The Social Risks

While retirement communities have plenty of options for connections, this doesn’t always translate into new friendships.

A big issue here is social cliques, as community members may already have their own social networks and be unwilling to welcome anyone new into them. Such groups can get surprisingly catty and gossip-laden, partly because members have a lot of spare time.

There’s also limited diversity.

Not only are retirement community members all of a similar age, but they often come from a similar social class and even similar backgrounds (a side effect of cost structure and how the communities are marketed).

This limited diversity can be isolating for anyone who doesn’t fit in with the crowd. It also makes it harder to connect with younger people, which is a shame, as diverse friendship networks offer many benefits.

How To Promote Positive Outcomes

Seniors need to choose carefully here. This includes looking for a retirement community that matches their needs and thinking about whether they want to live near that many older individuals.

It also helps to find other options for social contact, including activities and meetups that are outside the community. Doing so broadens the senior’s social network and should help them feel more connected.

Living In Facilities

If seniors cannot live safely alone, environments like nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and memory care facilities are the next obvious step. These environments provide support with the daily tasks of living, helping to keep seniors healthy and safe.

The Social Benefits

Facilities typically have structured activities that help residents spend time together and build friendships.

The environments can also be powerful for seniors with limited mobility, as they don’t need to go far to connect with others. Indeed, staff will often go to great lengths to make sure residents stay socially connected.

Facilities are also a good place for small regular interactions with residents and staff members. These interactions are similar to the ones experienced in a family home or at work, making them helpful for a sense of belonging.

The Social Risks

Residents and staff regularly turnover in facilities, making it more difficult to form long-standing friendships. The health challenges of residents may impact their ability to form friendships as well. After all, it’s tough to be social when you’re suffering from serious health challenges. 

How To Promote Positive Outcomes

Visiting regularly is an important way to help with isolation in seniors. However, it’s also important to encourage them to look for friendships in the facility, otherwise they may be completely dependent on your visits.

Try talking to staff members as well. They should have strategies to help connect seniors and encourage engagement between them.

Final Thoughts on Isolation in Seniors

Every living environment will come with a mix of social benefits and challenges.

While such issues can’t be avoided, they can be accounted for. With a little forethought and planning, you can encourage social connections regardless of where the senior lives.

The best starting point is often to simply talk to the senior. Find out the type of connections they’re looking for and whether they’re struggling with loneliness. For more ideas, check out our post on solutions for loneliness in seniors.