Where New Adventures Begin

Laguna Woods Village Southern California’s premier active lifestyle community for people 55 and older. Nestled on 3.8 -square miles of rolling hillsides in Orange County, California. Our 18,500 residents enjoy endless opportunitys to explore, connect and live life to the fullest in this picturesque South County community.

The community offers numerous planned activities and over 250 community clubs and organizations. Residents have use of the finest community facilities, including seven distinct clubhouses, one of which contains an 814-seat theater. The clubhouses have hobby and game rooms, meeting and billiard rooms, five large swimming pools, hot pools, lawn bowling greens, shuffleboard courts and two fully-equipped fitness centers. Clubhouse Four, the arts and crafts center, has professional equipment for jewelry making, sewing, woodworking, painting, photography, sculpturing and ceramics. Two garden centers provide individual plots where residents can give full rein to their ‘green thumb’, and two recreational vehicle storage lots are available for a fee. Laguna Woods Village is a golfer’s paradise. There are two professional courses: a challenging championship 27-hole course and a nine-hole 3 par executive course. In addition, there is a golf driving range, practice putting greens, and a chipping area. The tennis complex is one of the most modern in all of Southern California, with its own clubhouse. There are ten tennis courts and four paddle tennis courts. The equestrian center is second to none in all of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. Here residents can board a horse or rent one for a nominal fee.

The community owns and operates its own cable television network. Village Television provides daily local origination programming to the Laguna Woods Village community, covering community news, highlights of community events, feature stories, and entertainment programs, as well as live broadcasts of homeowner’s association meetings and live broadcasts of the Laguna Woods City Council meetings on Channel 31.

There are 94 floorplans within the Laguna Woods Village gated community. Third Mutual has it all in terms of home ownership, from single family homes to one, two and three-bedroom condominiums, totaling 6,102 units. United Mutual is comprised of 6,323 co-ops, an alternative approach to condo living. The last Mutual, a high-rise facility with 311 condos known as “The Towers”, is currently managed by an organization other than Village Management Services, Inc.

OVERVIEW:

EARLY HISTORY OF LAGUNA WOODS VILLAGE:

Laguna Woods Early History

Here’s an all-too-common scenario: A senior in your life is becoming increasingly isolated, and you worry that he or she is lonely, but you’re not sure what to do. It’s not the easiest subject to bring up, especially when family members or loved ones are proud and don’t want to admit they’re feeling alone.

But with roughly one of out of eight Americans now over 65 (nearly 47 million people as of 2015), loneliness and isolation are becoming hot-button issues for all of us. Consider these facts, from the Administration on Aging:

• Twenty-eight percent of Americans over 65 live alone; for women, it’s a startling 46 percent.
• People over 65 have an average life expectancy of almost 20 more years.
• While 72 percent of men over 65 are married, only 45 percent of women are married; 37 percent are widows.
• Almost half of women over 75 live alone.

“We know that loneliness and isolation are prevalent among America’s older population and can have increasingly detrimental effects on mental, emotional and physical health,” says Dr. Romilla Batra, chief medical officer at SCAN Health Plan, an HMO plan serving Medicare patients.

Sometimes an older adult lacks a network of family and friends; other times seniors may withdraw into isolation as a result of health conditions, depression or mental illness. Physical limitations such as a fear of falling can keep a senior isolated in her home, as can fatigue, chronic pain, or shame over memory problems. Many seniors become nervous about driving long distances or can no longer drive after dark, and they may fear or resist using public transportation options.

As a result of these factors, older adults may be alone for days or even weeks; a recent survey in England found that one-fifth of adults over 75 reported having contact with another person less than once a week, and one in ten said they might see a visitor less than once a month. In a 2009 Pew Research report, one out of every six Americans over 65 described their lives as lonely.

Sadly, loneliness can accompany more serious forms of neglect and abandonment — both of which are considered elder abuse as defined by the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA). The term neglect refers to any situation in which a senior doesn’t have the food, healthcare, shelter, and protection he or she needs, including help with the tasks necessary for daily living. Abandonmentoccurs when those who’ve assumed responsibility for care or custody of a senior stop providing it, whether intentionally or through oversight or lack of means.

Whether or not a senior in your life is lonely or socially isolated, this epidemic of loneliness is a society-wide problem that affects all of us. When you’re frustrated with the elderly woman ahead of you holding up the checkout line while she chats with the checker, ask yourself: What if that’s the only conversation she’ll have all day, or even all week? As a society, we should be treating senior loneliness as the public health crisis it is, experts say, because of the profound effects loneliness can have on physical and mental health.

And if you’re concerned about an older family member or friend who seems lonely, your worry is well-founded. Isolation and loneliness are prime signs that an older adult is without the support and tools needed to live a healthy, independent life and may be in danger of spiraling into decline.

Fact #1: Loneliness Harms Your Brain

Interesting new research is showing that loneliness may speed up the onset of dementia. In a recent Dutch study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, researchers followed more than 2,000 healthy, dementia-free seniors for three years and found that 13 percent who reported feeling lonely developed dementia by the end of that time, as compared with 6 percent with strong social support.

Fact #2: Loneliness Harms Your Heart

In 2012, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) compiled the results of numerous studies and concluded that there’s a proven link between loneliness and fatal heart disease. In one study cited, researchers at Harvard followed 44,000 people with heart disease and found that 8 percent of patients who lived alone died after four years, compared with 5.7 of those who lived with a spouse or others.

In research on the outcomes of coronary disease, Swedish researchers discovered that coronary bypass patients who checked the box “I feel lonely” had a mortality rate 2.5 times higher than other patients 30 days post-surgery, and that even five years later they were twice as likely to have died.

Fact #3: Loneliness Kills

Can this really be true? Sadly, yes. When researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, followed a group of seniors for six years, they found that by the end of the study period, almost a quarter (22.8 percent) of all the older adults who had reported feeling isolated or lonely had died. And another 25 percent had suffered significant health declines. By comparison, among the seniors who said they were happy or satisfied with their social lives, only 12.5 percent had declining health, and only 14.2 percent had died.

And before you dismiss this type of isolation as common only among the very old, consider that the average age of the adults in the study was just 71. In other words, many baby boomers are reaching retirement age without strong social networks to support them.

Another study, this time from Brigham Young University, analyzed study data for more than 300,000 people and found that loneliness was as strong a marker for early death as alcoholism and heavy (more than 15 cigarettes a day) smoking.

4 Ways to Protect Your Older Loved Ones From Loneliness

What can you do if an older adult in your life is growing isolated or lonely? Here are four simple steps you can take to help your loved one reconnect.

1. Help your loved one become more social-media savvy

As younger folks know all too well, you don’t need to leave your house to catch up with friends, follow current events, and find out about events in your area. But it turns out that more seniors are also looking to technology, as well as community events and volunteer opportunites, to help stay connected, according to Dr. Batra.

In fact, a national survey conducted by SCAN in Oct. 2017 revealed that 77 percent of seniors use email to keep in touch with loved ones, and 53 percent use social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.

E-mail and news sites are one way to do this, of course, but using a social media site like Facebook makes it even easier for an older adult to feel connected, simply by being able to see what others are posting. Facebook also offers plenty of opportunities to participate in “watercooler” discussions of current goings-on and share recommendations for books, movies, and music. Ask yourself: Don’t you feel more motivated to get out and see a movie if your friends are talking about it? The same is true for your parent or loved one.

2. Encourage your loved one not to live alone

It’s common for seniors to want to “age in place” in their own homes, and you may hear strong opinions on this topic from your parents and older loved ones. But this may not be such a good idea, experts say; studies show that those who live alone are prone to a host of health issues compared with those who are married or living in a group living situation.

A Dutch study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry showed that people who lived alone or who were no longer married were between 70 percent and 80 percent more likely to develop dementia than those who lived with others or were married. And a recent study conducted at University College London found that social isolation — even more than loneliness — can lead to early death, even for those as young as 52.

3. Set up transportation options

Ask anyone who works with seniors living on their own: One of the biggest factors behind isolation is lack of transportation. Many older adults no longer drive, or they fear driving at night or on unfamiliar routes. Call your local Area Agency on Aging and get a list of all the transportation resources in your loved one’s area. If, despite your encouragement, your loved one resists using group transportation, consider setting up a taxi fund so that taking a taxi doesn’t feel like too much of a splurge. Another possibility: Find a taxi driver in your area whom your parent feels comfortable with and set up regular appointments for your loved one’s activities.

4. Help your loved one find support groups

When older adults with health problems find support from others with the same condition, it helps with loneliness and depression. They may also get valuable information and motivation to seek help for their health condition. The University of College London researchers noted that the early death rate for socially isolated people may be due to the fact that they don’t have anyone to encourage them to get help with health problems or to intervene in a health crisis. If your loved one has physical impairments, an online support group can ease anxiety and inspire him with ideas for ways to help himself. If your loved one is a widower or widow, a bereavement or grief support group offers a chance to share feelings as well as a place to meet others in the same situation.

We live in an age where we can communicate with friends and family members across the country and around the globe with a few clicks of a mouse or taps on a smart phone screen. However, despite advances in communications technology and the increasing connectedness it brings, research indicates that, as a society, we are lonelier than we have ever been. Perhaps no other age group feels the keen sting of loneliness more than the elderly.

Why Are Older Adults so Lonely?
Age brings many difficult changes that contribute to a more solitary life. One of the biggest issues for seniors is that their social circles begin to shrink as the years go by. Friends, significant others and family members move away or pass away. Even those who still live close by may be inaccessible due to limited mobility, especially once a senior can no longer drive safely. Age-related changes in one’s physical condition, such as hearing loss and low vision, can make it so difficult to communicate that it doesn’t seem worth the effort anymore.

Embarrassment can be a factor as well. Many older adults who suffer from incontinence, are on oxygen therapy or need to use a mobility aid to get around not only face logistical obstacles when it comes to leaving the house, but they must also overcome feeling self-conscious about these “obvious” signs of aging.

It is trying enough for a senior to maintain healthy relationships despite these challenges, but when one’s entire peer group is experiencing any combination of these factors, it can be difficult if not impossible to get together or keep in touch on a regular basis. Sadly, many seniors experience a decline in the number and quality of their relationships as they age, whether it is self-imposed or due to outside forces.

Even when a senior is being taken care of by family caregivers, T. Byram Karasu, MD, from the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, says that there is often little attention paid to deep, engaging communication between a senior and the rest of the family. The changes listed above are factors, but caregivers are usually so worn out from juggling their day-to-day responsibilities that they have little time or energy left for truly meeting a senior’s emotional and social needs.

Bobbie Smith, a professional caregiver for Home Instead Senior Care with more than six decades of elder care experience under her belt, echoes this sentiment but believes the issue actually runs deeper throughout the structure of families. She says that a modern trend is the breakdown of extended family relationships—like those between grandparents and grandchildren. This has caused many elderly people to feel as though they have been “pushed to the side” and forgotten about. This is especially true for family units that have spread across the country and have difficulty making time for visits and even regular communication by phone and mail.

The Consequences of Loneliness
In addition to the damaging mental effects of feeling that one lacks fulfilling personal relationships, feeling lonely can also take a toll on one’s physical health. A University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study found that participants 60 years old and older who reported feeling lonely saw a 45 percent increase in their risk of death. Isolated survey respondents also had a 59 percent greater risk of mental and physical decline than their more social counterparts. This decline manifested specifically in participants’ abilities to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), the six basic tasks that are necessary for truly independent living. In other words, loneliness has the potential to accelerate a senior’s need for assistance from a family caregiver or another source of long-term care.

Loneliness is thought to act on the body in a way that is similar to chronic stress. It raises the levels of stress hormones like cortisol in the body, which impairs immune responses and contributes to inflammation, mental illness and conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry even found that loneliness may be associated with the development of brain biomarkers associated with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.

Lastly, psychologists from the University of Chicago analyzed data from an ongoing multi-generational cardiovascular study that began in 1948 and discovered another remarkable characteristic of loneliness: It is contagious. Older adults who feel lonesome are more prone to behave in ways that may cause other people to not want to be around them. Researchers found that solitary seniors have a tendency to further isolate themselves by pushing people away and not making efforts to engage with others. Furthermore, the few people that lonely seniors interact with are likely to become lonely themselves and follow the same path to the outskirts of their social networks. This has serious implications on the health and social lives of family members who are caring for lonely seniors.

Ways to Alleviate Loneliness
Smith feels optimistic that there are many things that can be done to rectify this situation. “It’s so easy to combat loneliness in the elderly, but caregivers have to be willing to get up and make it happen,” she says. Here are a few ways you can help alleviate loneliness in your elderly loved one:

Listen and observe. “We often don’t listen enough to the people we love,” laments Tina Tessina, PhD, psychotherapist and author of The Ten Smartest Decisions a Woman Can Make After Forty. According to Tessina, “Saying ‘tell me more’ is a gift you can give from your heart.” Encouraging them to express themselves can help you discover what interests and passions lay dormant, just waiting to be rekindled.
“You’ve got to really dig deep and find out what their interests were before and get them to try and awaken those forgotten activities,” Smith says. Keep in mind that once-loved activities may no longer interest them or fit their abilities. Do your best to help them discover ways to adapt these hobbies or find new pastimes altogether.
Develop a strategy to defeat seclusion. Once you know what your loved one enjoys doing, you can use this information to develop a personalized loneliness eradication plan. For example, while Smith was caring for an angry 91-year-old man who was reluctant to communicate, she discovered that he had a passion for singing and photography. One day while walking down the hall with him, she began to belt out a few bars of Let Me Call You Sweetheart. The man responded by singing right along with her and grudgingly admitting, “You’re OK.” Today, he sings for his community and is part of a club of retired photographers that Smith helped him contact. Sometimes our elders just need a creative push to step outside their comfort zone.
Let them teach you. Smith encourages caregivers to connect with their loved ones by allowing them to pass some hard-earned knowledge on to you. “I learn something new every day because I am being taught by the best,” Smith admits. The key is to let the senior’s passions and experiences guide the lesson plan. For example, if your mother loves to embroider, ask her to teach you how to do it. This not only has the potential to be a great bonding experience, but it can also help restore a bit of balance to the child-parent dynamic that may have been lost once caregiving began.
Bridge the generation gap. According to Smith, caregivers can play a vital role in fostering a relationship between a senior and their youngest relatives. Grandkids often see their grandparents as either crazy or boring, when they should consider their elders sources of valuable wisdom and fun. Try to come up with ways to help the oldest and the youngest generations of your family spend time together, whether in person, by phone or via mail.
Karasu also points out that seniors have the potential to contribute a lot to their families if they are allowed to remain engaged. He says this is doubly important, considering research has shown that an unengaged elderly adult will experience cognitive decline at a much faster rate than a senior who is mentally stimulated by interactions with other people.
It’s the thought that counts. Another piece of advice from the pros is to urge other family members to reach out to an elderly loved one. It doesn’t have to be a grand, time-consuming gesture. Something as simple as sending a card, sharing a favorite meal, or calling for 30 minutes a couple times a week can go a long way to making a senior feel loved and connected to the rest of the family.
Consider senior living. For some seniors, no amount of effort encourages them to come out of their shell. It may take a large change to get them to reignite their interest in people and activities. While placement in a senior living community or a long-term care facility might seem like a viable solution for a lonely elder, it isn’t always that straightforward.
The success of such a transition depends on the individual person and the fit of the facility. It also takes time and effort for a loved one to adapt to and grow comfortable with their new living arrangement and neighbors. In fact, it may appear to backfire at first. “When seniors move to nursing homes, assisted living communities, etc., it can be a totally disorienting experience,” Dr. Karasu points out. Family members and staff should provide gentle encouragement to help new residents acclimate, meet new people and participate in activities and events. One of the best parts of senior living (aside from receiving necessary care) is that opportunities for socialization and fulfillment are available right outside a resident’s bedroom door.

NED & BREE’S STORY