Lack of social engagement can be hazardous to your health
Loneliness is a subjective feeling determined by personality and temperament. On the other hand, social isolation is an objective condition from which serious physical and mental health issues can evolve. Social engagement is shown to play a key role in alleviating the latter.
These insights were delivered during UMRA’s November 2024 Living well Workshop by Robyn Birkeland, PhD, a study interventionist and coach with the Families and Long-Term Care Projects team at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH). She is part of the Home Alone Study, focusing on loneliness and social isolation and social engagement behaviors in older adults with memory concerns who are living alone.
Birkeland shared that life transitions including retirement, moving, and illness or death of a partner can impact social engagement. One’s own evolving physical limitations also play a role. She highlighted that the most effective social engagements are ones that align with an individual’s values.
Barriers to social engagement are diverse. Physical, cognitive, financial, and societal barriers can be different for individuals located in rural settings versus an urban setting. Also, lack of personal motivation along with an unwillingness to ask for help, or accept it when offered, can be barriers.
The role of technology is promising as tolerance of technology grows and research in artificial intelligence results in devices easier to use. For example, the GrandPad is a touchscreen tablet computer designed for older adults who are not tech savvy.
Promoting well-being and living safely
Phase I of the Home Alone Study is complete. But Phase II is still recruiting participants for a six-month study to identify social engagement behaviors and “values-aligned activities”—activities that give a person meaning, enjoyment, and energy. Study participants work with a trained Home Alone coach in seven weekly sessions. Sessions promote well-being and living safely. Coaches share strategies for lifestyle planning and increasing meaningful activity. Visit the Home Alone webpage to learn more, including how to contact SPH about participating.
Join or Die
Another resource recommended by Birkeland is the 2024 documentary film Join or Die, an entertaining portrayal of America’s social unraveling over the last half-century through the eyes of renown social scientist and Bowling Alone author Robert Putnam, whose groundbreaking research into America's decline in community connections and social health could hold some of the answers to our democracy's present crisis. The film is available for streaming on Netflix.
—Diane Young, UMRA president-elect and Program Committee chair
The importance of social engagement
Tue, November 12, 2024, at 11am
Robyn Birkeland
Study interventionist and coach
Families and Long Term Care, UMN School of Public Health
Event to be held via Zoom.
Robyn Birkeland, PhD, is a study interventionist and coach with the Families and Long-Term Care Projects team at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH). She provides coaching support to family care partners and individuals with memory loss. She also delivers presentations and participates in various community outreach events and initiatives.
In her presentation for UMRA’s Living Well Workshop via Zoom at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 12, Birkeland will explore loneliness and the importance of meaningful activities and social engagement for older adults. She will also consider barriers to social engagement, and discuss ways to encourage and promote well-being and living safely.
In addition, Birkeland will share information about the SPH Home Alone program, a research study for older adults with memory concerns who are living alone. The focus of the program is on home safety and social engagement for adults 55 and over who do not live in a residential setting that provides care and services.
Home Alone study participants work with a trained Home Alone coach in seven weekly sessions, each lasting about one hour. Coaches share strategies for lifestyle planning and increasing activity and social engagement. The coaching sessions are delivered via telehealth secure video conferencing or by phone, with select in-home sessions available to those who live near the U of M Twin Cities campus.
For more information about the study, including how to enroll as a participant, go to sph.umn.edu > Research > Research Projects and Studies > Home Alone.
Birkeland earned her bachelor’s in psychology from Rollins College and master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of South Florida. She has nearly 25 years of experience providing counseling to adults and families.
Register today for this free Zoom webinar at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 12.
—Diane Young, UMRA president elect and Program Committee chair
Upcoming Events
The Black Count: Glory and Betrayal by Tom Reiss, published in 2012 and winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in biography, will be the selection for discussion when UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 25. Newcomers are welcome.
Morris Campus Retirees will host a Zoom meeting. Morris Campus Retirees are part of the University of Minnesota Retiree Association (UMRA). The group has already held two meetings in its first year of existence.
Peter Moe, retired Minnesota Landscape Arboretum director and UMRA member, will be leading a hiking tour of the Arboretum again this year. The amazing tulip display was at its peak for our hike last year, and we will undoubtedly enjoy seeing many spring-blooming trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and perennials. Plan to stay for lunch together (optional) after the hike at the Rootstock café in the Oswald Visitor Center.
UMRA’s Family History Interest Group will meet via Zoom on Wednesday, May 7, for an open discussion of ideas, insights, questions, and issues related to family history, and to discuss topics for next year’s meetings.
We will revisit the University of Minnesota Archives, with its major holdings largely tucked away in two huge underground caverns along the Mississippi River under the West Bank campus, holds the essential records of our University of Minnesota’s past. University Archivist Erik Moore will interpret the holdings and bring out a sampling of what it holds. We will also get a tour of the caverns (Minnesota Library Access Center), revealing where these precious materials are housed, including the original tapes of KUOM, now Radio K.
Cancer has touched all of us. If you are willing to share your cancer journey or talk about your experience with a person you have supported, please consider attending the May 8 UMRA breakfast gathering at The Original Pancake House in Roseville.
You are cordially invited to this presentation by Andy Whitman, Professor, Attorney, Volunteer Financial Planner. He will discuss investments for your grandchildren.
The UMRA Photo Club is having a photo shoot at the Como Park Conservatory in St. Paul on Tuesday, May 13.
Financial scams are a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, and learning how to spot and avoid scams is more important than ever to your financial health. For UMRA’s May workshop, Jay Haapala, leader of AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, will share with us the latest criminal trends in scamming and how to avoid them.
The UMRA Book Club will discuss The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon when it meets via Zoom on May 16.
.Wood Lake Nature Center is a peaceful 150-acre cattail marsh, woodland, and restored prairie that is a haven for migrating birds and waterfowl. This UMRA hike is a great opportunity for those who would like a shorter, easier hike. The trails are dirt, grass, and woodchip, with some bridges and a bit of paved trails. Only a couple small hills to navigate, the park is mostly flat.
University of Minnesota Regent Penny Wheeler, MD, will be the featured guest for the UMRA luncheon forum on May 20. In place of the usual speech format for our forums, Regent Wheeler will be interviewed by UMRA member and liaison to the Board of Regents John Finnegan, professor and dean emeritus of the U of M School of Public Health.
I, Claudius by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934, will be up for discussion when UMRA's Fourth Friday Book Club meets via Zoom on May 23.
The UMRA Book Club will discuss The Great River by Boyce Upton when it meets via Zoom on June 20.
Learn about writing memoirs, technology for seniors, campus architecture, and more at the fourth annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held in the McNamara Alumni Center on the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis on Monday, June 23.
Catch up with friends and former colleagues, meet new UMRA members, enjoy delicious food, and participate in the third annual UMRA Summer Social Quiz at the Como Lakeside Pavilion in St. Paul on Wednesday, June 25.