Stay young at heart: the health benefits of group based activities for seniors

Group based activity programs can reduce loneliness and improve health outcomes for older adults through inviting and meaningful social experiences.

By nature, humans are social beings with an innate need to belong to a group. Social isolation can cause this need to go unmet, creating feelings of loneliness, which signal a need to form a meaningful connection with others. If loneliness persists, it can contribute to higher rates of anxiety and depression and can increase the risk of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, dementia, lower quality sleep, immune system dysfunction, impulsive behaviour and impaired judgement (Lim, 2018).

In comparison, social connection has been linked to prolonging people's lifespans, with a study conducted by psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad showing a 50% reduction in premature deaths amongst people with strong social relationships due to less bodily stress (Murthy, 2020). Similarly, a 2020 Lancet article reported that higher social contact among older people is a protective factor against dementia, preventing or delaying up to 40% of dementia types (Livingston et al., 2020).

Unfortunately, older people can experience higher rates of loneliness with increasing age due to the decline in their social group. Consequently, reducing feelings of loneliness amongst this group is paramount if they are to have positive health outcomes and a prolonged life expectancy. One of the most effective ways to reduce loneliness is by socially connecting with others through shared meaningful experiences in inviting environments (Murthy, 2020). 

Older people particularly benefit from group based activities such as social excursions, which have been shown to reduce social isolation and improve quality of life (Community Care Review, 2021). This vision drives the Out & About program, which involves social group based outings designed to strengthen attendees' sense of social connectedness by facilitating high quality, inviting, shared experiences where people feel safe to share their stories and be themselves.

The Out & About program operates in South Australia and Darwin and is open to anyone over the age of 55 years. For more information, please get in touch with Southern Cross Care Health & Fitness team at 1800 852 772

Reference list

Community Care Review. (2021, July 13). “Group excursions program gets results for home care clients”. https://communitycarereview.com.au/2021/07/13/group-excursions-program-gets-results-for-home-care-clients/

Lim, M. (2018). “Australian loneliness report: a survey exploring the loneliness levels of Australians and the impact on their health and wellbeing” Swinburne Research Bank. https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/items/c1d9cd16-ddbe-417f-bbc4-3d499e95bdec/1/  

Livingston, Huntley, J., Sommerlad, A., Ames, D., Ballard, C., Banerjee, S., Brayne, C., Burns, A., Cohen-Mansfield, J., Cooper, C., Costafreda, S. G., Dias, A., Fox, N., Gitlin, L. N., Howard, R., Kales, H. C., Kivimäki, M., Larson, E. B., Ogunniyi, A., … Mukadam, N. (2020). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission. The Lancet (British Edition), 396(10248), 413–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30367-6 

Murthy, V. H. (2020). Together, Loneliness, Health & What Happens When We Find Connection. Profile Books.