By Lora Felger
By the time this article is printed, March Madness will be behind us and everyone will know who the 2022 NCAA Men’s and Women’s basketball champions are. For those of you who can time travel, shhhh keep it to yourselves, don’t spoil all the excitement. I’m writing this article after a fun weekend of using my text messaging features on my phone to keep in touch with family and friends from all over the country. One good friend was even on vacation in Mexico while we shared our ups and downs watching 64+ teams of men and women play their hearts out. At press time, Duke, North Carolina and my beloved Iowa State Cyclones were all still alive in the Sweet 16 for the men; and NC State, North Carolina and Iowa State were still balling for the women. What a great state we live in for basketball!
As my family and friends sent texts back and forth, I felt so plugged in and “part of the family.” It did get a little tricky keeping track of who was on which text thread I was responding to. I didn’t want to cuss too heartily on the thread with my 70-something dad and aunt on it. They could probably still wash my mouth out with soap if they could catch me.
Humor aside, my March-Madness-inspired string of text messages reminded me how important it is to connect with the older members of my family. Isolation and loneliness are two sad soldiers left behind after our COVID-19 battle together. Those over the age of 65 are of particular risk, with 25% of that population considered to be “socially isolated.” A 2020 study published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that isolation and loneliness can contribute to several adverse health conditions:
- Social isolation significantly increased a person’s risk of premature death from all causes – a risk that may rival those of smoking, obesity and physical inactivity.
- Social isolation was associated with about a 50%-increased risk of dementia.
- Poor social relationships (characterized by social isolation or loneliness) were associated with a 29%-increased risk of heart disease and a 32%-increased risk of stroke.
- Loneliness was associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide.
- Loneliness among heart-failure patients was associated with a nearly 400%-increased risk of death, 68%-increased risk of hospitalization and 57%-increased risk of emergency department visits.
I’ve always been of the opinion that you have to use it or lose it when it comes to aging. Knees need to be bent or they won’t bend anymore. Eyes needs to see beauty and light or they won’t see life the same way anymore. Finally, hearts need to be filled with love and belonging or they won’t beat with a vigor for living any longer.
Which is why – even now that March Madness is over – my family and friends are keeping our text chains going. We talk about anything and everything as if we were sitting across from each other at a potluck. We may live in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa and Colorado, but we stick together via text. Sometimes, some of us need to turn off the discussions or silence our phones when things “blow up,” as they say. But it’s fun later to jump back in and catch up. It makes me feel like I’m part of a team. Which makes me think – texting is not a hard thing to teach our older friends and family members. Why not start your own text-message discussion group today? It won’t only keep everyone connected and happier, but healthier too.
Lora Felger is a Community Outreach/Medicare Advisor with FirstCarolinaCare. She is the mother of two terrific boys, a world traveler and a major Iowa State Cyclones fan. She also has a naughty-yet-lovable yellow Labrador retriever named Harvey.
Like this article? Feel free to respond to FCCOutreach@FirstCarolinaCare.com. Thanks for reading!