Connecting with others is a powerful way to promote life. Social connections provide people with the emotional support, material help, and intellectual connection they need to thrive. Social connectedness — both the sum of individual relationships and a sense of belonging — is crucial to overall health and well-being. Connection can be measured first by the strength of the older person’s existing social network. Secondly, do the individuals and institutions providing support to him or her through this network matter. 1 Social support is described as various kinds of help or assistance from family, friends, and others.
Resilience is also reported to be closely associated with social support. Researchers, who define resilience as a dynamic process changing over time and contexts, have emphasized the importance of social support for resilience. An increasing body of research has revealed that resilience is influenced by environmental factors which concentrate particularly on social support, including relations with professionals, social connectedness, and community/ family/friend support .2 3 4 Research in women aged 85 and over revealed that the accessibility of care and family support were two environmental factors underpinning resilience.5 Among older adults who received long-term community care, Janssen and his colleagues conducted 29 in-depth interviews and found that social support, positive social interaction with others, access to health services, and a supportive social policy, could give rise to resilience.3 A cross-sectional survey of 162 community-dwelling Chinese elders in Singapore confirmed the contribution of social support to resilience.6
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
A basic human need, as identified by Maslow, is love and belonging where one experiences a sense of connection. Spirituality is a dynamic and intrinsic aspect of humanity. Used by persons seeking ultimate meaning, purpose, and transcendence. To experience relationship to self, family, others, community, society, nature, and the sacred, programs should offer both non-religious content and traditional religious services. It is imperative to develop content that is inclusive of all persons represented at nursing homes. Contemporary tools create a healthier and safer nursing home community which is scalable to a national level. Virtual delivery is more efficient, consistent, and equal, if not stronger, in efficacy.
Engagement Technologies are Required
To minimize unintended harms for residents and staff. Nursing homes must look to mechanisms like those that many people in the community have used to cope during their stays at home. Practical presence requires a shift in delivery of social, emotional, and spiritual support. The critical component to ensure success is a move to a virtual delivery system of historically proven in-person interventions. Practical presence is possible because it is about making and or maintaining an emotional and spiritual connection. 7 The purchase of technology and access to the internet to facilitate these types of exchanges in aging care facilities is a necessity. Smart devices allow residents access to social networks, digital content, and emotional/spiritual support.
Moving beyond the pandemic, it is important to make sure that the elderly can have social connectedness. The benefits of social connectedness and engagement technologies include:
- Increasing an older adult’s social network
- Reducing loneliness and social isolation
- Increasing resident/client engagement and satisfaction
- Improving health and quality of life and reducing depression
- Reducing health care costs
Soulrapha provides holistic wellness for aging care communities; including skilled nursing, assisted living, board and care, and memory care. Rapha is the Hebrew word for healing. Soul healing is what we do. Our mission is leading the fight to end senior isolation and loneliness in Orange County CA. Our vision is to revolutionize the way aging care communities are perceived by encouraging a culture that cares about seniors.
- Wu, M., Yang, Y., Zhang, D. et al. Association between social support and health-related quality of life among Chinese rural elders in nursing homes: the mediating role of resilience. Qual Life Res 27, 783–792 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1730-2
- van Kessel, G. (2013). The ability of older people to overcome adversity: A review of the resilience concept. Geriatric Nursing, 34(2), 122–127. doi:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2012.12.011.
- Janssen, B. M., Van Regenmortel, T., & Abma, T. A. (2011). Identifying sources of strength: Resilience from the perspective of older people receiving long-term community care. European Journal of Ageing, 8(3), 145–156. doi:10.1007/s10433-011-0190-8.
- van der Leeuw, S., Costanza, R., Aulenbach, S., Brewer, S., Burek, M., & Cornell, S., et al. (2011). Toward an integrated history to guide the future. Ecology and Society. doi:10.5751/ES-04341-160402.
- Felten, B. S., & Hall, J. M. (2001). Conceptualizing resilience in women older than 85: Overcoming adversity from illness or loss. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 27(11), 46–53.
- Li, J., Theng, Y., & Foo, S. (2015). Does psychological resilience mediate the impact of social support on geriatric depression? An exploratory study among Chinese older adults in Singapore. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 14, 22–27. doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2015.01.011.
- Humanitarian Disaster Institute, Spiritual First Aid, A Step-By-Step Spiritual & Emotional Care Manual. https://www.nohcob.org/upload/documents/disaster_response/spiritual_first_aid_manual_l_r4_5-13-20_1.pdf
- Leading Age – Social Connectedness and Engagement Technology for Long-Term and Post-Acute Care: A Primer and Provider Selection Guide https://www.leadingage.org/white-papers/social-connectedness-and-engagement-technology-long-term-and-post-acute-care-primer-and
