In some ways, mental health is even more important to seniors’ quality of life than physical health. Maintaining a positive outlook can help them manage stress and find meaning in everyday life, making bad days bearable and good days even better.
Seniors’ mental health also impacts their physical health. A good frame of mind makes it a lot easier for them to find the motivation to care for their bodies through exercise, hygiene and eating right. Reducing stress levels has even been shown to directly improve heart health.
It can be hard for older adults to improve their mental health without support—but they’re not alone. Ann Arbor is full of senior mental health resources that can help your loved one improve their quality of life.
Ann Arbor’s Top 3 Senior Mental Health Resources
With social groups, educational classes and instructors who can help them harness their creativity, seniors have plenty of mental health resources in Ann Arbor. Here are three of our favorite options.
- Help Them Make Friends
Maintaining strong connections with friends and family is crucial for older adults’ mental health. Regular social engagement creates a sense of connection and belonging that lifts their mood and improves their cognition. A social network also acts as a safety net, giving them people to lean on for support when they’re feeling down.
Unfortunately, older adults often struggle to stay connected with the people they care about. Many of them live far away from their closest friends, so they don’t have a built-in social group to lean on, and it’s challenging for them to meet new people in an area where they don’t know anyone. On top of that, fatigue and logistical barriers make it difficult for them to keep a lively social calendar.
Your loved one might be embarrassed about their difficulty making new friends, but the truth is, most seniors struggle with it. It’s such a common issue that most communities have at least one organization to help older adults connect with each other and have fun together.
Ann Arbor is home to plenty of senior social groups, but one of the most approachable is the Ypsilanti Library’s 55+ Friday Walking Club. Each week, this friendly group of older adults goes for an easy 30-minute stroll along a path near the library—partly for a little exercise, but mostly to make friends and enjoy each other’s company. There’s no registration required, but your loved one can sign up on Facebook to connect with the people they meet there.
- Indulge Their Curiosity
The brain is a lot like a muscle: To maintain it, you need to use it frequently. When seniors continue to engage in intellectual pursuits, they aren’t just staying engaged in the world and satisfying their curiosity—they’re also staving off or mitigating dementia.
For some older adults, taking time to read books, do puzzles, focus on hobbies or visit museums is enough to sate their curiosity. But if your loved one wants to really dive into a topic—or if they just prefer to talk about it with a group—they might enjoy a continuing education program like those at the University of Michigan’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).
Retirement gives seniors the time and freedom to learn about any topic that strikes their fancy, and continuing education is a great way for them to do so. Whether it’s history, literature, science or mathematics, now is a great time for them to fully indulge their curiosity.
- Help Them Find a Hobby
Regardless of age, people need something to do with themselves—retirement just lets them focus on things they actually want to do. Many seniors make good use of that added time by finding a hobby (or devoting more of their time to the hobbies they already have).
It turns out that there are plenty of good reasons for them to do so. Hobbies give older adults a project they can focus on and take pride in, as well as regular mental stimulation and a creative outlet. In fact, seniors who consistently engage in hobbies have a 29% lower mortality rate than those who don’t.
If that’s not enough, hobbies also give seniors a good way to make friends with like-minded people through classes and groups such as those at the Ann Arbor Senior Center. The Center hosts a rotating series of arts and crafts lessons taught by professional trainers; just this month, they’ve offered fiber arts, scrapbooking and watercolor painting.
Home Care is a Senior Mental Health Resource
Mental health is just as much a part of older adults’ well-being as physical health—and Ann Arbor has plenty of resources to help with it. From social groups for seniors to classes on academics, arts and crafts, Ann Arbor has no shortage of ways to help your loved one manage stress and improve their outlook.
If an older adult in your life needs a little help to boost their mental health, FirstLight Home Care of Ann Arbor is here for them. Our professional caregivers offer assistance with everyday self-care tasks like dressing, bathing and cooking that help, freeing your loved one to focus on the activities they find meaningful.
Want to learn more about how our caregivers can help a senior in your life? Contact us today.
