What can Mobile Applications Do to Reduce Seniors’ Social Isolation?

Most seniors and people with disabilities feel lonely and isolated more than the rest of the community, and since the covid crisis, the situation has become even more critical! The covid pandemic led to self-isolation and social distancing throughout the world. Fortunately, those nightmares are over now, but the seniors’ social isolation issue still exists, even more than before!

What could keep people feel connected and in touch during the multiple lockdowns and quarantines were social media and mobile applications. Believe it or not, these apps and tools significantly controlled depression and loneliness during that crisis. In this article, we’re going to discuss social isolation in seniors, its reasons and risks, and how mobile applications can actually help reduce it. So, stay tuned till the end!

Social Isolation in Seniors

Social isolation is usually described as a lack of social connection with others and having few people around to communicate and interact with regularly. Most people mistakenly assume social isolation and being alone are the same, but they’re not! Many individuals live alone, but they have sufficient social skills and tendencies to communicate and talk to others. Furthermore, socially isolated people may feel lonely even if their family and friends are around!

We are all born with natural skills to communicate with others. Believe it or not, we are all sociable creatures. Human evolution history shows that humans with better social skills and abilities to work in teams and live with others could make it to survive and thrive. So being socially open and improving communication skills is in our blood and an essential factor that makes our lives easier and more pleasing. Our social skills and interactions usually reach their top in our 20s and remain there till our 40s.

The aging process causes changes in our body, hormones, and brain functions, leading to a slight decline in every skill. That’s why most seniors are more vulnerable to isolation and impacted by it than other age groups. That’s normal but just up to a certain point! Sometimes this lack of interaction goes farther away from the “normal” line and may impact seniors’ lives, mentally and even physically! That is when we have to take action!

The Risks of Social Isolation

Losing social abilities reduces the sense of connection between a person and their friends, families, and community. According to various social experiments, socially isolated people experience severe and complicated emotional pains, which lead to sleep disorders, anxiety, functional declines, and depression.

Most socially isolated people struggle with drinking and smoking problems and barely do any exercise. So, it wouldn’t be surprising to know that social isolation may increase the risk of physical disease and issues.

Here are the mental and physical issues that lack of interaction can bring us:

• Cardiovascular diseases
• Obesity
• Immunity issues
• Digestive problems
• Cognitive impairments including dementia or Alzheimer’s
• Depression
• Anxiety
• In severe cases, death!

What can Mobile Applications Do?

Our lives are so attached to technology, especially smartphones, that you can barely find someone who doesn’t handle their daily activities without the help of smartphones. Compared to previous generations, seniors are more likely to use and become familiar with technology now. So, there is no doubt that technology makes our lives more convenient and less challenging.

Many specialists and researchers believe that the proper mobile applications can significantly tackle and reduce mental pains and issues, including social isolation, depression, and cognitive impairments.

Mobile applications can help you tackle social isolation in three major groups:

Social Media

Social media are the best platforms that offer you chances to reconnect with people and make new bonds and friendships (which are essential to our spirit). You can see what’s going on outside your doorsteps, what adventures people start, and what amazing journeys they accomplished. Seeing others’ vibrant and active lives can practically motivate you to go out there and achieve new goals.

Besides that, by learning the basics of social media, you can access unlimited data and information and add to your knowledge.

Here are the top three social media platforms to join:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Messengers

Social isolation has numerous reasons, including losing a beloved one, disability, mental disorders, etc., and all of them keep you away from connecting with your beloved ones, which intensifies this isolation. See?! It’s a vicious cycle. Anyhow, if you’re struggling with social isolation, you may not be ready yet to interact with others, including your family and friends, in person. Here is where messengers come to help you out. By the grace of messengers like Whatsapp, Skype, Telegram, WeChat, etc., you can connect with your beloved ones face to face via video calls and messages, keep in touch with them through voice calls and text them anytime and anywhere.

Podcasts

According to a study at UC Berkeley, listening to narrative stories and podcasts efficiently stimulate different parts of your brain. That means podcasts, especially those exclusively produced for self-development and mental health improvements, can impact your brain and ease your ways toward being a better person. There are numerous podcasts about social isolation and how to tackle it, and most of them are free of charge! You can also hear about other people’s experiences going through isolation. These podcasts help people feel like they’re not stuck in a unique and unsolvable situation, and there are so many others out there struggling with the same challenge simultaneously.

You can listen to online podcasts via different mobile applications, including Apple podcasts (for iPhone users), Google podcasts (for android users), Castbox, Spotify, Audible, and Stitcher.

Final Words

Most of you may be unaware of the risks of social isolation and how intense and dangerous they may get. Social isolation is getting more widespread these days, especially among the senior class; it’s not good news, but it’s true! Since the average aging rate is increasing in most countries, and the seniors will contain the main population of most countries at least 30 years by now, it’s the perfect time to take action to reduce these mental issues to ensure the mental health of most communities in the near future. So, if you or one of your beloved ones are currently experiencing it, please take it seriously and take the proper action to control it before it’s too late!

We would appreciate it if you could write about your experiences and questions in the comment section below.