Expanding Friendships Lead to a Longer, Happier Life for Baby Boomers
Baby Boomers look to find balance between local and virtual friends within their life.
The fact that local friends are more immediate and tangible does not preclude the need to stay connected with friends that are distant.
Many virtual friends are known from work or from the city once lived.
Regardless, friendships matter whether they are local or virtual and they are much more manageable using an online social group.
Friendships and why they matter.
There is often a desire to expand ones circle of local friends to provide more emotional stimulation, but why is it important to baby boomers? Building friendly relationships has benefits for physical and emotional well being.
The idea that social interaction is important to mental and physical health has been hinted at and studied for years, says Stephen Joyal, M.
D.
, Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Medical Development for Life Extensions, a nonprofit dedicated to the research on extending the human lifespan.
But, a meta-study released in the summer of 2010 from researchers at Brigham Young University has determined the link is more direct than previously imagined.
Social isolation, according to the meta-study, which included 148 different studies totaling more than 300,000 participants, can have a serious negative impact on your lifespan.
Those with adequate or high social relationships - friends, family, neighbors, or colleagues - were found to have 50 percent greater likelihood of survival than their friendless counterparts.
Expanding one's friends has benefits far greater than we previously thought.
Local friends play a major role in keeping baby boomers active Not surprisingly, baby boomers' local friends are more plentiful than distant or virtual friendships.
As we age, friends are more tightly coupled with activities and interests and less with work or lifelong friendships.
Friendships from work become less important, especially as one nears retirement.
So, there is a desire from many baby boomers to form an inner circle of friends by finding a local group of individuals that enjoy doing similar activities.
A great way to meet others with similar interests is to be part of an online social group.
I am an organizer of a local group of 50 and Better adults who have varying interests, but all have an interest in meeting others.
This group is not a match making club, it is a social club.
We organize events like dinners, hiking, dancing, card games, book club, and any other activities that will bring people with similar interests together.
In the year I have been doing this, I am amazed at not only how many people participate in the events, but how fast the group has grown.
All the members are baby boomers, evenly divided between married and single, with one thing in common; wanting to make new friends and enjoy life.
Virtual friendships are keeping baby boomers alert after change Retirement marks a new phase in a baby boomer's life and it only seems natural to downsize.
Baby boomers often relocate or move to a new home when they transition away from their primary career, or from the day-to-day rearing of school-aged children.
Today, baby boomers are even purchasing a new home before they actually retire.
Recent surveys show:
Loneliness and sometimes depression sets in after a move from familiar surroundings.
With age specific social networks, it is easy to keep your distant friends close and informed of your activities with confidence of privacy.
It does take time to make friends in a new location, so maintaining distant friends helps transition the move and often result in a feeling of never leaving the old neighborhood.
As a side benefit, online social networks also force baby boomers to stay current with technology which promotes brain health.
Online social networks promote brain health by combining reading and interactivity in a powerful way.
You have probably heard of "brain exercise" computer programs and games-and did you know that going on the Internet gives the memory a good workout? A 2009 UCLA study showed that as adults are performing simple web searches, blood flow increases in areas of the brain that are vital for memory and thinking.
Researcher Teena D.
Moody explains, Searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults.
Therefore, being online with friends help emotional temperament and improved cognitive health, activities many baby boomers neglect as they age.
The fact that local friends are more immediate and tangible does not preclude the need to stay connected with friends that are distant.
Many virtual friends are known from work or from the city once lived.
Regardless, friendships matter whether they are local or virtual and they are much more manageable using an online social group.
Friendships and why they matter.
There is often a desire to expand ones circle of local friends to provide more emotional stimulation, but why is it important to baby boomers? Building friendly relationships has benefits for physical and emotional well being.
The idea that social interaction is important to mental and physical health has been hinted at and studied for years, says Stephen Joyal, M.
D.
, Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Medical Development for Life Extensions, a nonprofit dedicated to the research on extending the human lifespan.
But, a meta-study released in the summer of 2010 from researchers at Brigham Young University has determined the link is more direct than previously imagined.
Social isolation, according to the meta-study, which included 148 different studies totaling more than 300,000 participants, can have a serious negative impact on your lifespan.
Those with adequate or high social relationships - friends, family, neighbors, or colleagues - were found to have 50 percent greater likelihood of survival than their friendless counterparts.
Expanding one's friends has benefits far greater than we previously thought.
Local friends play a major role in keeping baby boomers active Not surprisingly, baby boomers' local friends are more plentiful than distant or virtual friendships.
As we age, friends are more tightly coupled with activities and interests and less with work or lifelong friendships.
Friendships from work become less important, especially as one nears retirement.
So, there is a desire from many baby boomers to form an inner circle of friends by finding a local group of individuals that enjoy doing similar activities.
A great way to meet others with similar interests is to be part of an online social group.
I am an organizer of a local group of 50 and Better adults who have varying interests, but all have an interest in meeting others.
This group is not a match making club, it is a social club.
We organize events like dinners, hiking, dancing, card games, book club, and any other activities that will bring people with similar interests together.
In the year I have been doing this, I am amazed at not only how many people participate in the events, but how fast the group has grown.
All the members are baby boomers, evenly divided between married and single, with one thing in common; wanting to make new friends and enjoy life.
Virtual friendships are keeping baby boomers alert after change Retirement marks a new phase in a baby boomer's life and it only seems natural to downsize.
Baby boomers often relocate or move to a new home when they transition away from their primary career, or from the day-to-day rearing of school-aged children.
Today, baby boomers are even purchasing a new home before they actually retire.
Recent surveys show:
- 36 percent of boomers will move, or plan to move, when they become empty nesters.
When they retire, 55 percent say they will move. - Roughly one-third (36 percent) of baby boomers will move more than three hours away once they become empty nesters.
- Upon retirement that number climbs to 51 percent
Loneliness and sometimes depression sets in after a move from familiar surroundings.
With age specific social networks, it is easy to keep your distant friends close and informed of your activities with confidence of privacy.
It does take time to make friends in a new location, so maintaining distant friends helps transition the move and often result in a feeling of never leaving the old neighborhood.
As a side benefit, online social networks also force baby boomers to stay current with technology which promotes brain health.
Online social networks promote brain health by combining reading and interactivity in a powerful way.
You have probably heard of "brain exercise" computer programs and games-and did you know that going on the Internet gives the memory a good workout? A 2009 UCLA study showed that as adults are performing simple web searches, blood flow increases in areas of the brain that are vital for memory and thinking.
Researcher Teena D.
Moody explains, Searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults.
Therefore, being online with friends help emotional temperament and improved cognitive health, activities many baby boomers neglect as they age.
Source...