Connection Matters
We all thrive on connection, it is what makes us human. The chat over the fence with a neighbour, a wave hello on the school run or a friendly exchange in the shops. These small everyday connections help us to feel happier and less lonely.
Loneliness is a feeling not dissimilar to hunger, when we feel hungry it’s our brain’s way of saying “find food” and when we feel lonely it means we need social connection.
Loneliness and wellbeing
Loneliness can affect our mental and even physical wellbeing. Rates of severe loneliness for older people in care homes are over 2 x higher than for those living at home. A study of 128 care home managers showed 79% reported that lack of social contact caused a deterioration in health and wellbeing of residents with dementia.
However, loneliness isn’t just for the old, people aged 16-24 are now the group most likely to say they feel lonely and women and ethnic minorities are the largest group affected by loneliness.
This week is Loneliness Awareness Week and what better way to celebrate that than to help yourself, or someone else feel less lonely by joining one of our intergenerational Songs & Smiles groups.
The warm fuzzy glow of connection
Sign yourself and your child up to our weekly intergenerational singing and music group in a care home near you. We sing, we play, we make friends and we all get to feel the warm fuzzy glow of connection.
The weekly sessions really do help tackle loneliness and create new friendships, not just for the residents but for parents and children too.
Gemma, a Songs & Smiles leader and a Mum herself, said “A mum from one of the groups I led once told me that these sessions help her to feel less alone too, it can be lonely at home with a baby too…”
How can you connect?
8 top tips for intergenerational conversation starters
So how can we open up and start a conversation and make someone feel connected? If you’re coming along to one of our sessions here’s a few tips for conversation starters for children and adults…
Talk about your family and ask them about their family. Do they have children? Do they have siblings? Ask about their wife or husband, were they married?
Ask about where they grew up. What was their childhood home like?
Did you go to school? Did you enjoy school?
Did you have many close friends? Who were they? What games did you play?
Talk about holidays and family traditions.
Ask them about their working life and hobbies. Children can talk about what they enjoy doing.
Ask them about their favourite music or art or food. Everyone loves talking about their favourite meals or the films they love.
Talk about what you’ve been up to, older people like to hear about all the exciting places you’ve been, they may tell you about places they’ve enjoyed to go!
So go take action against loneliness this week; join one of our sessions, wave to a neighbour, chat to an old friend or smile at a stranger. Little and often, these small connections come together to make a huge difference.
Gemma Saunders 13/06/23