Today’s passage discussions went very well and were incredibly engaging. Micah, Jacklyn, and Chase did an excellent job at leading discussion as well as choosing meaningful passages that helped to promote relatable and enriching conversation.
We talked a bit about social isolation and ostracization of seniors and the effect that these kinds of behaviors can have on seniors’ overall long-term health. The film that we watched also supplemented this conversation. In regards to the way social isolation affects seniors, we have learned that social isolation has an incredibly negative impact on the mental as well as physical health of seniors and it gets worse as time goes on. The conundrum is that most seniors do not want to live in group homes as they get older, but they also are faced with dwindling opportunities for social interaction when they live alone. Often, neighbors move away, they outlive their friends and partners, and there is a general lack of intergenerational activities that connect seniors to other people who are not their age. Regarding intergenerational relationships, ageism also comes into play, preventing many seniors from establishing connections outside their age demographic, even if they desired.
So how are we supposed to integrate seniors into our society so that they are not so socially isolated? Jessica and John participate in the round table discussions with the intergenerational student org at school. For our group HAP, we want to create a proposal for an intergenerational pop-up garden that could potentially be moved to different appropriate sites. We can create community centers like Bayside, situated next to both a school and a church, which can help to facilitate intergenerational activities and interactions. As a society, we also need to end the aging stigma which has extremely impactful implications for the overall treatment of elders.
We also talked more about the life course perspective and the importance of balance throughout the life course. Lots of wonderful life advice was given by everyone in the class. My main point had to do with the fact that we will never know what life is like after death. Therefore, we must embrace all human experience (even the negative) in order to fully accomplish all that human life has to offer. We cannot dwell on the negative experiences we go through, but rather appreciate them for what they are and what we can learn from them. All in all, I believe the most important thing to maintain focus on is the value we obtain from our personal experiences and the happiness we feel in the presence of these happy moments. If we measure the value of our experiences only on our personal worth, not the worth of anyone else, only then will we truly feel that genuine contentment.
We talked a bit about social isolation and ostracization of seniors and the effect that these kinds of behaviors can have on seniors’ overall long-term health. The film that we watched also supplemented this conversation. In regards to the way social isolation affects seniors, we have learned that social isolation has an incredibly negative impact on the mental as well as physical health of seniors and it gets worse as time goes on. The conundrum is that most seniors do not want to live in group homes as they get older, but they also are faced with dwindling opportunities for social interaction when they live alone. Often, neighbors move away, they outlive their friends and partners, and there is a general lack of intergenerational activities that connect seniors to other people who are not their age. Regarding intergenerational relationships, ageism also comes into play, preventing many seniors from establishing connections outside their age demographic, even if they desired.
So how are we supposed to integrate seniors into our society so that they are not so socially isolated? Jessica and John participate in the round table discussions with the intergenerational student org at school. For our group HAP, we want to create a proposal for an intergenerational pop-up garden that could potentially be moved to different appropriate sites. We can create community centers like Bayside, situated next to both a school and a church, which can help to facilitate intergenerational activities and interactions. As a society, we also need to end the aging stigma which has extremely impactful implications for the overall treatment of elders.
We also talked more about the life course perspective and the importance of balance throughout the life course. Lots of wonderful life advice was given by everyone in the class. My main point had to do with the fact that we will never know what life is like after death. Therefore, we must embrace all human experience (even the negative) in order to fully accomplish all that human life has to offer. We cannot dwell on the negative experiences we go through, but rather appreciate them for what they are and what we can learn from them. All in all, I believe the most important thing to maintain focus on is the value we obtain from our personal experiences and the happiness we feel in the presence of these happy moments. If we measure the value of our experiences only on our personal worth, not the worth of anyone else, only then will we truly feel that genuine contentment.