Celebrating our seniors: Why Seniors Week is more important than ever 

This Senior’s Week (11-18 November 2024), is an important time for us all to stop, reflect and celebrate the invaluable contributions of our seniors.  It is perhaps fitting that this year, the start of Senior’s Week coincides with Remembrance Day, an equally important time for us all to honour the legacy of those before us.

Remembering is significant but collectively we must do more: we must connect.

Did you know 1 in 4 older Australians aged 65 years or older live alone? Many don’t talk to another person for days on end. Imagine that.  Imagine how loud the silence is from the four walls of your own home.

Loneliness is rampant in our community, and it is happening in many of the homes on your street.

Loneliness, social isolation and elder abuse have been linked to mental illness, emotional distress, hypertension, high blood pressure, poor sleep and immune function, the development of dementia and even suicide and premature death.

What can we do to stop this?

Events during Senior’s Week are designed to bring people of all ages together, bridging gaps and creating bonds.  But why isolate it to just a week?  Why can’t we reinforce the importance of intergenerational connection and support every day?

Simple things like saying hello to a senior while you grab your weekly shop, stopping to chat when you see them outside their home, sending a card or knocking on their door with the offer of a conversation or a meal, go a long way to creating connection and stamping out isolation.

Many of our seniors no longer drive and would love your offer of a shopping outing or an afternoon exploring somewhere they haven’t visited for a while.  The warm weather is inviting us all to be more active so let’s include our older neighbours in this too.  Here at Southcare we run activities as part of our community connect program to get people together. Tackling loneliness is a big job but one that can be achieved if we all rally together.

Discover how you can connect with your community