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Don’t forget isolated elders over the holidays
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As we head into the busy holiday season, our charitable focus is normally directed at providing meals, clothes, gifts and checks to needy people in our communities. But the social and emotional needs of these populations are often overlooked – especially those of isolated elders.
U.S. Census estimates that when baby boomers start to become senior citizens (2011), the 65 and older population will grow faster than the total population in every state in the nation. In fact, it’s predicted that 26 states will double their senior citizen population between 2000 and 2030. Of this population, the Census also states that 7.5 million senior women and 2.6 million senior men live alone. While many choose to live alone, the social isolation can have a negative effect on a person’s health. Indeed, research has repeatedly shown that social isolation can lead to depression. Linda Waite, the Lucy Flower Professor in Sociology at the University of Chicago and a leading expert on aging, explained in a ScienceDaily article, “Older adults who feel most isolated report 65 percent more depressive symptoms than those who feel least isolated.”
The plight of older veterans is even more grim. Older veterans make up 38 percent of the total veteran population (as of 1999, according to the National Association of Mental Illness), which may total between 7.8 and 9 million people. NAMI asserts that a considerable number of them suffers from depression.
There is a non-profit organization that exclusively administers to the emotional needs of elders: Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly. Their origins hail from France, when Catholic church friars (or “brothers”) were concerned about impoverished elders living in sub-standard housing after the physical devastation of World War II. They organized their outreach to this isolated population and Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly was born with the motto “Flowers Before Bread.” The organization expanded to the United States more than 50 years ago and now has 10 chapters around the country – in Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, San Francisco, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Omaha, and Washington, D.C. Vetted volunteers are matched with elders who are identified by the community as isolated and at-risk. The “Little Brothers” volunteers pledge to spend a few hours each month visiting their elder. In addition, the organization organizes social activities for and delivers meals to elders on major holidays. Organizations like Little Brothers can make a significant difference in the emotional -- and physical -- health of an elder and there are just not enough volunteers for the growing population in need.
Give a few hours of your time this holiday season by providing some companionship to a senior citizen – especially an elder veteran. It will be worth a lot more than a check. For more information on Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly, go to their web site.
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