Engaging While Aging: What's Good for the Brain is Good for the Soul
Staying socially connected is one of those behaviors, like regular exercise and good diets, that can help older people lead healthier, and perhaps longer, lives.
That’s the finding of several recent studies. In 2007, for example, researchers from Western Oregon University found that older adults who increase or maintain their social networks are more likely than those who don’t to report enhanced cognitive functioning, decreased depression and improved quality of life.
And in the 1990s, Harvard researchers found that people age 65+ who report frequent contact with relatives and friends or participation in regular social activities are about half as likely to experience cognitive decline as those with no regular social ties.
But social interaction isn’t just about health promotion. “Engaging with a compatible person promotes quality of life, it’s fun,” says Ben Lewis, a San Francisco resident who founded a company in 2009 that connects its clients with social companions who share similar interests.
Called Engage As You Age, Lewis’s company primarily targets homebound and socially isolated seniors, those living in private homes as well as those residing at assisted living and other senior communities. “The folks we work with tend to spend a lot of their time alone, and often they are really yearning for human interaction and stimulating conversation,” says Lewis
Engage As You Age matches these clients with employees, called activity specialists, who have similar passions, from opera and history to languages, ice skating and genealogy. When hiring employees, Lewis says he looks for “intelligent, empathetic, imaginative people with good interpersonal skills.”
Shared interests have enabled activity specialists to establish lasting bonds with many clients. “We were recently able to pair an artist who has early-stage Alzheimer’s disease with a younger activity specialist who’s just starting his artistic career, and they really clicked due to their shared passion for art,” says Lewis. “And recently we paired an elderly Russian Jew raised in Brooklyn with an activity specialist who’s also from Brooklyn, and they’re working together on the client’s memoir.”
Engage As You Age has built a network of more than 100 activity specialists, serving clients through out the Bay Area. Most are younger than the company’s clients, who range in age from the mid-40s to the late 90s, creating intergenerational opportunities.
The company provides extensive screening and training of employees, including background checks. The application process includes an essay and a verbal presentation to staff. All activity specialists are insured and bonded.
Engage As You Age client Selma enjoys discussions with activity specialist Stacey.
Clients include people who are bedbound and people with dementia. “We’re able to work with mild dementia and early-stage Alzheimer’s, who can really benefit from participation in social activities,” explains Lewis. “It’s more difficult to engage clients with more advanced dementia.”
Engage As You Age provides a free in-home consultation for interested clients and families, to assess clients’ interests and help the company develop a customized service plan.
Clients are often referred by family members, including many caring for loved ones with dementia. “The time clients spend engaging with an activity specialist can provide much-needed respite for family caregivers,” says Lewis. Families often cover the company’s fees, which typically run $25 to $50 per hour for home visits. Families often hear about Engage As You Age through word of mouth or Lewis’s frequent public speaking engagements, and the company was featured on CBS’ “Start-Up Spotlight” in 2009.
In addition to one-on-one socialization with activity specialists, Engage As You Age offers discussion groups at assisted living and continuing care facilities around the Bay Area. The company also offers one-on-one and group computer instruction, in which clients learn how to use email, search engines and social networking sites.
Lewis, who has a master’s degree in African American studies from Yale, launched the venture after volunteering as a companion for an elderly woman who lived at a continuing care community in San Francisco. “The experience made me realize that a lot of older people have nothing to do all day, but that they have a lot to offer. Even at some of the toniest facilities, the only time some people leave their rooms and interact with other people is at meals.
“It’s amazing to see how people just light up when our activity specialists come to see them,” says Lewis. “It’s something they look forward to and circle on their calendars. And it shows just how important it is for people to be challenged and stretched in conversations. What we offer is not just entertainment, it’s intellectual stimulation.”
For information or to schedule an in-person consultation, see http://engageasyouage.com or call (415) 690-6944. Engage As You Age is located in San Francisco.
(This article originally appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of Bay Area Summit)
< Back to "Lives" |
