Living alone might actually be unhealthy. “Loneliness Harms Health” on the Association for PsychCentral.com summarizes the longer book, “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” by Drs. Caccioppo and Patrick.
Their basic point is that loneliness has negative physical effects on the body. These effects become more pronounced as we get older. From the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Seniors’
Living Alone is Unhealthy
Retirement Loneliness
A good article on the problem of loneliness in retirement. The author Cathy Severson describes the problem and then offers several suggestions: volunteer, make friends with younger people, take a class, and move your home to one in a community.
Of course, I’m going to point out that by sharing housing one can avoid moving AND [...]
Better than a Drug
I found this quote from a NY Times article (July 16, 2008) about HomeShare. In it Kirby Dunn, director of HomeShare Vermont is quoted as saying, “When you look at the data on people living alone, they tend to die younger and be sicker. We’ve done surveys, and people say they’re happier, sleeping [...]
Housemate and dog save a life
“Milky Way, a Jack Russell terrier/corgi/Chihuahua mix has been called a hero after getting help when her owner suffered a stroke and collapsed on the bathroom floor in December” thus begin the article in the Post Bulletin. It’s a great story. The dog reacted to her collapse by racing to the housemate’s bedroom [...]
Seniors
“We have better instincts.” That’s what my new friend Mary said to me when I was telling her about the idea that more senior citizens could be sharing housing.
That’s a hopeful idea. Seniors have spent a lifetime of living. Even if they haven’t shared their housing, they have certainly met many people through work and [...]
Action News-Las Vegas Seniors seeking housemate
Action News in Las Vegas did a short piece on a senior considering renting a room in her house to manage her difficult finances. It describes Rita, who after her husband died lost his pension and veteran’s benefits (reducing her income by 70%) and can no longer afford her home. She really wants to stay [...]
Who makes the match?
There are programs that take on responsibility for matching householders with home seekers. In general these programs are non profit social service programs focusing on people in need for reasons of age, disability or low-income.
The National Shared Housing Resource Center provides a directory of programs in states, updated in March of 2009. A casual count [...]
The New Housemates
Here’s an article, published by the AARP on middle-aged single women choosing to live together. It was written in 2007. I wonder how many more people are discovering the pleasures of sharing housing?
For Real
Local columnist, Joyce Marcel, writes a insightful column about the relationships between elderly white seniors in Florida living with caretakers coming from different cultures.
Older Householders
As I interview people sharing houses, I notice a generational shift about sharing housing. The folks who came of age in the late 60’s and after, are more comfortable with the idea that the WWII generation. This makes sense. The WWII generation came of age when marriage, 4 children families, and a stay-at-home mom were [...]