Our Mission

The Challenge

  • The challenge that we decided to tackle is loneliness within the senior population. As a group, we discovered how we have witnessed loneliness within our own grandparents and shared many similar stories regarding this challenge.

  • Throughout volunteering with seniors in assisted care facilities, a firsthand look at the battle of isolation that many seniors go through was provided.

Why It Matters

  • Despite current activities and programs in place at certain facilities, many seniors are still experiencing loneliness. We even brought in the popular topic of COVID-19 and how this global pandemic has negatively affected the population further.

  • Loneliness places the aging population at a greater risk for health complications which inevitably increases their vulnerability (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015). Furthermore, the loss of loved ones, decreased social networks, and nevertheless declining health, all additionally contribute to the population's vulnerability.

Reinstating Purpose

  • Since loneliness is an extremely common occurrence among seniors, we wanted to steer our innovation towards helping seniors reinstate a sense of purpose within their lives. We believe that through promoting engagement in hobbies and activities, this can be acheived and tackle the challenge even more effectively.


I S S U E S W E D I S C O V E R E D . . .

  • Holt-Lunstad et al., (2015) illustrates that “people who are lonely are 50% more likely to die prematurely.” We believe that loneliness greatly contributes to health, and this topic needs to be further addressed. There are numerous barriers that prevent seniors from obtaining physical, mental, and social wellbeing which ultimately plays a defining role in the loneliness and nevertheless isolation that seniors experience.


  • Loneliness is a significant element in the onset of depression. In addition, it has been reported that depression has become the most common neurological and mental disorder in older adults (Lahti et al., 2021).



  • Seniors who live alone after their partner has passed become disconnected from family ties and oftentimes lose connections with their children and grandchildren. This lack of meaningful connection affects seniors’ quality of life and perceptions (Sipowicz et al., 2021)


CITATIONS

Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., Baker, M., Harris, T., & Stephenson, D. (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 10(2), 227-237. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1745691614568352

Lahti, A.-M., Mikkola, T. M., Salonen, M., Wasenius, N., Sarvimaeki, A., Eriksson, J. G., & von Bonsdorff, M. B. (2021). Mental, Physical and Social Functioning in Independently Living Senior House Residents and Community-Dwelling Older Adults. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 18(23), 12299. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.3390/ijerph182312299

Sipowicz, K., Podlecka, M., Mokros, L., & Pietras, T. (2021). Lonely in the city–sociodemographic status and somatic morbidities as predictors of loneliness and depression among seniors–preliminary results. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021, 18(14), 7213. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147213