How to Encourage Your Aging Parents to Stay Social

Relationships are important at any age—after all, it’s often the other people in our lives who bring us the most joy. But, as we age, connections to others can become a little extra challenging to maintain as friends and family move away, busy schedules compete for our time, and health or mobility changes sometimes make socializing harder.

Studies have repeatedly confirmed the importance of staying social as one ages, which can have a tremendous benefit on a person’s mood and longevity. As the child of aging parents, you can’t force them to spend time with others, but you can gently encourage them to do so. Below, are some effective strategies that can help your parents get their fill of social time. 

Encourage Them to Maintain Existing Relationships

Investing in their existing relationships is one of the easiest ways for aging parents to stay social. After all, the connection is already there; it just might need a renewed effort to keep it thriving. While it will require effort from all parties in a relationship to build it back up, most hurdles can be comfortably overcome with a little assistance. Even nudging your parents to spend some time with their friends or arranging transportation for them can be all that’s required to spark their social side once more. Studies show that having a good friend can help motivate older individuals to make healthier choices and, when needed, provide helpful assistance like taking them to doctor appointments or picking up medications for them.

Living in a Community

There are a few practical reasons why older people don’t socialize as much as they’d like to. If they live in a quiet, suburban area far from downtown, it might not be realistic to think that they’ll head into town every day to share a coffee with their friends, especially if they’re experiencing reduced mobility. In this case, moving to a retirement living community can offer an ideal solution, since, along with all the other benefits that these facilities can provide, they also offer an in-built community. Your parents won’t have to seek out social interactions; they’ll be happening right where they are. 

Volunteering Opportunities

Volunteering is sometimes an underrated way for people of all ages to make social connections. It’s one of those things that offers benefits beyond spending time with others. It also provides a sense of purpose. The type of volunteering that your parents get involved in will depend on their age and capabilities, but could include volunteering at food banks, animal shelters, or teaching; there’s likely many ways they can get involved in their own community. It doesn’t really matter what it is, actually —the main thing is that they do it—you might be surprised at how much they benefit from volunteering. It really can give people a new lease of life. 

Family Get-Togethers

Finally, remember the easiest way to ensure your parents get their fill of face-to-face time with other humans: family get-togethers! You’ll might be be doing all sorts of fun things with your children all the time, so why not see if your parents would like to join in and spend time with you and their grandkids? They won’t say yes all of the time, or maybe even half of the time. However, the important part is that they know that they have options on the table — for many older people, simply knowing that they can do something is enough to give their mood a boost.