The Senate Aging Committee is holding a hearing at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon, "Breaking the Cycle of Senior Loneliness: Strengthening Family and Community Support." Argentum President and CEO James Balda will testify on the critical role of senior living communities in promoting socialization and combatting isolation among seniors.
Ahead of the hearing, U.S. News & World Report released a report on showing that moving into a senior living community can improve a person's social isolation and loneliness. The report found that 61% say their feelings of loneliness or isolation improved after moving into a senior living community, and 85% of seniors have made friends since moving into a senior living community.
The hearing comes after Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), the Aging Committee Chairman, introduced S. 473, the Social Engagement and Network Initiatives for Older Relief (SENIOR) Act. This legislation seeks to address the loneliness epidemic among seniors and promote ways to help more seniors stay connected by 1) adding “loneliness” to the definition of “disease prevention and health promotion services” under the Older Americans Act; 2) directing HHS to report on the impacts of loneliness on seniors and propose solutions; and 3) Analyze the relationship between the strength of multigenerational family units, loneliness, and seniors.
Argentum has long promoted the importance of socialization in senior living communities to combat isolation and its associated mental and physical health complications. In addition to Senator Scott's SENIOR Act, Argentum has also strongly supported the Care Across Generations Act (H.R. 1812), to provide grants for long-term care communities to co-locate childcare centers to foster intergenerational connection. This legislation was just reintroduced last week by Representatives Marilyn Strickland (D-WA) and Bryan Steil (R-WI).
Research supports that those who live alone face greater feelings of loneliness, with a recent study showing adults aged 50 to 80 who live alone reporting higher rates of social isolation than those who live with others. Senior living communities offer a critical opportunity to combat loneliness among seniors through its residential care model focused on the social determinants of health. A national survey of communities finds that 93% of residents have access to life enrichment or social activities at their community. Another survey found that just 14.3% of senior living residents reported being lonely, compared to 29.9% of seniors who live alone and upwards of 75% in nursing homes.
Argentum's testimony comes weeks after submitting comments for a different Aging Committee hearing, "Combating the Opioid Epidemic," where we detailed the importance of supervised medication management, especially for seniors who struggle with physical limitations and/or various forms and levels of dementia, and how senior living communities assist residents medication management to both control chronic conditions as well as effectively mitigate pain.
