Social Isolation

As more Canadians become seniors, there will be proportionately fewer Canadians of working age. In 2038, there will be about 40 seniors for every 100 adult Canadians (between 18 and 64 years of age)— double the number of seniors in 2013.

Seniors will continue to have a growing role in the labour market and the volunteer sector, which contributes to retaining knowledge and skills in the Canadian workforce, sustaining the economy, and helping community organizations function. In all, the social and economic contributions of seniors will likely be increasingly connected to the success of the entire country.

For seniors to continue and even expand their participation in society they need to remain healthy and engaged in their communities. However, research shows that an estimated 30 percent of Canadian seniors are at risk of becoming socially isolated. According to the International Federation on Ageing, “the number one emerging issue facing seniors in Canada is keeping older people socially connected and active.”

Social isolation and exclusion are related to serious negative health effects and reduced quality of life for seniors. Social isolation is also linked to the undervaluing of seniors in our society and the loss of seniors from the volunteer sector and the paid economy. The National Seniors Council also asserts that the social isolation of seniors can cause communities to suffer from a lack of social unity, higher social costs, and the loss of the wealth of experience that seniors bring to our families, neighbourhoods and communities

Not all socially isolated seniors suffer negative consequences from social isolation. For example, some seniors may prefer to be alone and do not experience loneliness. On the other hand, because loneliness is a subjective experience, some socially active seniors may feel lonely. Whether or not people consider themselves socially isolated is a very personal and sensitive matter.

Social isolation is different from the feeling of loneliness, though the two are often related. “Loneliness is the distress that results from discrepancies between ideal and perceived social relationships.” This discrepancy perspective makes it clear that loneliness is not synonymous with being alone, nor does being with others guarantee protection from feelings of loneliness. Social isolation can generally be recognized by others observing a person’s relationships, while loneliness is a personal experience.

Social isolation among seniors can be a result of several factors. Many seniors experience physical changes (such as sickness or disability) and life changes (such as the loss of a spouse), which can reduce the number of social contacts and limit activities. Social and environmental factors, such as poverty and inadequate transportation, may also increase a senior’s chance of becoming socially isolated.

Social isolation can result from major events or from a combination of small events. How much these incidents affect people depends on the economic, personal, material and social resources that they have available to help them cope. Seniors can draw on their life experience in managing difficult times to help them with the challenges of ageing. However, too many changes, especially one after another, can make it difficult to cope.

About 30 percent of Canadian seniors are at risk of becoming socially isolated. Reports by Statistics Canada estimate that 19 percent of Canadians over age 65 feel isolated from others and 24 percent wish they could participate in more social activities.

The National Seniors Council’s Report on the Social Isolation of Seniors 2013–2014 states that the following factors may place seniors at risk of social isolation and loneliness:

·                   living alone

·                   being age 80 or older;

·                   having compromised health status

·                   having multiple chronic health problems

·                   having no children or contact with family

·                   lacking access to transportation

·                   living with low income

·                   changing family structures

·                   being left behind by younger people migrating for work

·                   location of residence

·                   experiencing critical life transitions such as retirement,             the death of a spouse, or losing a driver’s license

·                   lacking awareness of or access to community services           and programs

·                   being a caregiver

Having a lower level of education and being born outside of Canada are also identified as risk factors for seniors’ social isolation

Life and magic

I admit that there are many things I don't know. Things, quite frankly, that some tell me I can't know. There are unseen, and the miraculous logistics and happenings that can so swiftly change a life.  We don't know what is going to happen next, but not knowing is enough to daunt even the hardiest of souls. So, we struggle to know what might happen next. 

But, then again, one needn't learn the mysteries of the wind, to sail effortlessly around the world, either.  Think about what might happen, set it aside and then start sailing. Life is magic

You Either Grow or Regress

In the spring we plant and watch our garden grow over the summer, in the fall we take out the plants that have died and prepare the soil for the next year. Life’s a cycle of growth and decline. Exercise is the chief signaller to make growth outweigh decline. Laziness hastens deterioration and stifles growth.

Exercise and mood share corresponding chemistry. Our lifestyle choices and exercise choices send billions of messages to and from your brain to make you smarter, stronger and sexier, even as we age.  We know that 30 minutes a day of exercise is needed for seniors to maintain a healthy life, so instead of considering it as exercise, think of that 30 minutes a day as food for growth, agility, independence, looks and youthfulness.

Inactivity may feel good at first, but it makes me feel tired all day, every day. I know that exercise can seem tiring for a short time if done properly. But then I think it energizes you the rest of the day. Activity is in harmony with nature. Activity and exercise promote growth. Inactivity runs counter to nature. You can be lazy, tired and simply surviving—or active, energetic, and alive. It’s your choice.

And the best news? It takes much less effort to keep your gains than it did to achieve them. The brain can’t always accept that, but it’s the truth!

Genetically speaking, we are still cavepeople, that means we are hard-wired to move seven days a week and to be fit enough to cope with our environment. We are not used to having a lot of food and doing nothing for long periods of time. Abundance and idleness are foreign to our makeup. No matter what you think of exercise, we were still designed to hunt and gather. It’s embedded in makeup, but our ancestors rested more than you probably think.

To keep exercise fun and interesting, and to maximize results, do a variety of different exercises and intensities. And when activity is fun, it becomes addictive. Besides, not exercising is simply not an option if you want to be independent, well, pain-free, energetic and good looking.

If you have not been exercising always check with your medical provider before starting any program. Here is an idea, train like a caveman. Emulate hunting and gathering. Hunting was essentially high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It builds muscle and alertness.

Do HIIT 1-3 days a week, depending on your intensity. If you train to muscle failure, you may only need to do one set per week of each weight training exercise, because it takes a week or even more for your muscles to fully recover. And you may only need to do five exercises in each session; chest press, leg press, overhead press, seated row and pulldowns.

The secret is long, slow reps, each taking a MINIMUM of ten seconds. Five or more seconds on the positive and the same on the negative for 5-10 reps. This avoids injury and maximizes muscle and strength growth. Keep it up until you can’t push or pull anymore.

Total muscle failure on each set with as little time as possible between sets. It’s not easy, but the trade-off is maximum muscle growth in 12 minutes a week. For more detailed information, get a copy of Body by Science written by Doug McGuff and John Little.

The other half of the equation is gathering simulated activity or long, slow exercise which also burns fat and builds endurance. This could be anything that has you breathing hard while still being able to carry on a conversation for 45 minutes or so.

If you’re at 60-65% of your maximum heart rate, you’re in a good zone. This best life-extending range may be vigorous exercise, but not exhausting for most of your training sessions. Make sure you break a sweat and breathe hard. If not, you’re missing the biggest benefits.

We need to exercise 30 minutes a day as we get older because we start to break down. Some think the older you get, the harder it is to exercise. It really isn’t, and the rewards are over the top.

Cranky Old Man

Not my story, but it is a wonderful story as it is not true, so I thought I would share after reading the poem I searched for the original and it and the story behind the poem is after the poem called Cranky Old Man. When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.

Later, when the nurses were going through his meagre possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in mags for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but this eloquent, poem.

And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.

Cranky Old Man

What do you see nurses? ......What do you see?

What are you thinking... when you're looking at me?

A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,

Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his food... .... and makes no reply.

When you say in a loud voice. .'I do wish you'd try!'

Who seems not to notice. .the things that you do.

And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?

Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,

With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?

Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?

Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,

As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.

I'm a small child of Ten. .with a father and mother,

Brothers and sisters .. . .... who love one another

A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet

Dreaming that soon now . . ..... a lover he'll meet.

A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.

Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.

At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.

Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.

A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,

Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.

At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,

But my woman is beside me... to see I don't mourn.

At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,

Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.

I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.

For my young are all rearing ... young of their own.

And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.

It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.

The body, it crumbles ..... grace and vigour, depart.

There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass. A young man still dwells,

And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells

I remember the joys . . . .... I remember the pain.

And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.

I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.

And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.

So open your eyes, people .. . . . ... open and see.

Not a cranky old man.

Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!

PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM!

The best and most beautiful things in this world can't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart!

The story and the original poem are below thanks to hoax slayer for the information

The poem itself has a long and somewhat convoluted history. The original version of the poem (included below) featured an old woman rather than an old man and was set in the UK. The poem has been known by several names, including “Crabbit Old Woman”, “Kate”, “Look Closer Nurse” and “What Do You See”. For decades, the poem has been included in various publications in the United Kingdom often accompanied by the claim that the poem was found by nursing staff in the belongings of an old woman named Kate who died in a hospital’s geriatric ward. Many versions claim that the hospital was located in Scotland. Others claim the hospital was in England or Wales.

In fact, the provenance of the piece remains somewhat hazy. However, credible reports suggest that the poem may actually have been written by Phyllis McCormack in 1966, who at the time was working as a nurse in a Scottish hospital. In a 2005 report about the poem for ‘Perspectives on Dementia Care’, 5th Annual Conference on Mental Health and Older, Joanna Bornat notes:

Amongst the responses to a small survey which I carried out in 1998 while researching attitudes to the poem 3 (Bornat, 2004) was a cutting from the Daily Mail newspaper in which the son of Phyllis McCormack, whose name is often linked with the poem as its discoverer, explained:

My mother, Phyllis McCormack, wrote this poem in the early Sixties when she was a nurse at Sunnyside Hospital in Montrose. Originally entitled Look Closer Nurse, the poem was written for a small magazine for Sunnyside only Phyllis was very shy and  submitted her work anonymously.
A copy of the magazine was lent to a patient at Ashludie Hospital, Dundee, who copied it in her own handwriting and kept it in her bedside locker. When
she died, the copy was found and submitted to the Sunday Post newspaper, attributed to the Ashludie patient. Since my mother’s death in 1994 her work has travelled all over the world…
(Daily Mail, 12 March 1998).

Somehow this explanation rings true, though it immediately begs the question of how the origin story was constructed in the first place and whether the poem depends on an apparent myth for its continuing appeal. Encounters have been mixed as responses to the 1998 survey suggested.

The currently circulating “old man” variant of the piece is apparently an adaptation of the original by US poet David L. Griffith of Texas and can still be seen in its original context on his website. Griffith calls his adaptation of the poem “Too Soon Old” but it is also known as a “Crabby Old Man” and, as in the version included above, “Cranky Old Man.”

The original version of the poem:

Crabbit Old Woman

What do you see, nurses what do you see

Are you thinking when you are looking at me

A crabbit old woman, not very wise,

Uncertain of habit, with faraway eyes,

Who dribbles her food and makes no reply

When you say in a loud voice –I do wish you’d try

Who seems not to notice the things that you do

And for ever is losing a stocking or shoe,

Who unresisting or not, lets you do as you will

With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill

Is that what you are thinking, is that what you see,

Then open your eyes, nurses, you’re not looking at me.

I’ll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,

As I used at your bidding, as I eat at your will,

I am a small child of ten with a father and mother,

Brothers and sisters who love one another,

A young girl of 16 with wings on her feet

Dreaming that soon now a lover she’ll meet;

A bride at 20 — my heart gives a leap,

Remembering the vows that I promised to keep

At 25 now I have young of my own

Who need me to build a secure, happy home;

A women of 30 my young now grow fast,

Bound to each other with ties that should last,

At 40 my young sons have grown and are gone;

But my man’s beside me to see I don’t mourn;

At 50, once more babies play around my knee.

Again we know children, my loved one me

Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead,

I look at the future, I shudder with dread,

For my young are all rearing young of their own

And I think of the years and the love that I’ve known.

I’m an old woman now and nature is cruel

’tis her jest to make old age look like a fool.

The body it crumbles, grace and vigour depart,

There is now a stone where once was a heart

But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells

And now and again my battered heart swells

I remember the joys I remember the pain,

And I’m loving and living life over again.

I think of the years all too few – gone too fast,

And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.

So open your eyes, nurses open and see

Not a crabbit old women look closer – see me