This is a guest column in conjunction with Mrs. Jobe’s AVID Senior Service Learning Project

How can our community benefit from students interacting with senior citizens and the elderly? The fact is, many students don’t realize the importance of socialization as we get older and the importance interacting with the elderly in our community. For our AVID senior Service Learning project, my group decided to do our community service at Junction City 1^st Methodist church on March 29^th and April 4^th. . Mrs. Winder, the volunteer coordinator, said to us, “A lot of people think that the elderly do have interaction with their families, but the fact is families aren’t there supporting their elders because of different reasons.” During our project, we mostly spent time with the elderly folks at the church getting to know them and interacting with them. According to the article “How Important is the Socialization of the Elderly?” as we get older there is a possibility that a lack of interacting with others may hinder a person’s quality of life (Living Assistance Services).We may not know it but a lack of socializing may have a negative impact on our own health, especially those who are elderly. Most of the elderly at the church were the ages of 65 and older, so we had to be flexible with them because of their age, because they may see things differently than we do. A recent Harvard School of Public Health study published in The American Journal of Public Health suggests that “strong social ties, through friends, family, and community groups, can preserve our brain health as we age” (Living Assistance Services).

When people visit the elderly in a senior home, the service can provide social support that can help these elderly folks beat loneliness. Interacting with them doesn’t just mean you’re physically there or having a conversation, but the interaction should have a quality meaning to what the elderly consider sentimental. We didn’t just talk to them, we played board games, cards, etc. There are many ways that you can help an elderly person feel social again, such as reminiscing, or making them part of a social activity. In the end we realized that we appreciated hanging out with them. Volunteers should motivate the elderly to engage in social gatherings or take interest in learning new skills, or be active by taking up walking working part-time at Wal-Mart as a “greeter.” This causes less tension in making the elderly folks feel isolated and alone.

As we grow older our interacting skills may be forgotten and we lose our voice to speak out for ourselves. For many elders life is already like that—without a voice and no one taking a minute to listen. So, let’s give them that chance and encourage our elders to get up and get out and start living again. To tell them “we are here for you.”