Arrow Senior Living Understands the Importance of Socialization and Building & Maintaining Relationships

No matter our age, building relationships with others is fundamental in enriching our lives. Research has shown that people who enjoy healthy relationships live longer and have happier lives. Maintaining relationships as we age has numerous health benefits such as increasing our physical and mental health, improving mental acuity, promoting laughter, and more!

At Arrow Senior Living Communities, our Resident Services Directors play a pivotal role in helping to create opportunities for our residents to build relationships with their peers as well as helping to maintain these relationships through daily events. Oftentimes, aging adults are afraid of senior living settings. They see it as an end to their independence. Most fear being isolated from family and friends. One of the stigmas associated with senior living is, “I’m too young and active to be in senior living.” Therefore, many avoid it as an option all together. Unfortunately, this means they also lose out on the abundant opportunities to create new friendships and memories that this setting provides.

In our communities, you might hear of something called a Jolly Squad. This is a group of residents who are professionals at welcoming new residents and helping them to feel at home as they settle in. We also ensure that new residents are invited to join all events, based on their preferences. Once our residents take advantage of these events, they often find themselves meeting new people or even connecting with old friends or neighbors. Through our daily events and programs, we often see close friendships form. Residents begin having meals together or even taking trips out of the community for shopping and family get-togethers.

Arrow’s Resident Services Directors have found an abundance of ways to help build and foster these relationships. Through continued promotion of daily events and taking time to focus on each resident as they move in, they help to steer residents away from isolation. We also recognize the importance of breaking the stigmas associated with senior living communities as we continue to educate seniors on all the amazing opportunities that senior living provides.

Sources: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316

https://www.friendsview.org/the-stigma-of-senior-living/https://www.eddyseniorliving.com/latest-news/the-importance-of-senior-friendships-for-healthy-aging/