Paula Sikes, Director of Resident Engagement at Cogir Senior Living, joins Suzanne to talk about social wellness. She recommends some tips to help people connect with community. Social wellness is a focus in this summer’s Vitality Revolution podcast series.

For professional caregivers, Paula says, “Get to know your clientele. You’re gonna know them better than anybody honestly, especially if you’re the caregiver and you’re taking care of them. So think back of what their likes and their dislikes are, they’re gonna be more apt to participate in any type of social wellness if it’s something that they enjoy and that they like.”

For seniors, Paula adds, “We always do encourage our communities to have one social outing per day. That could be a happy hour. That could be a coffee, sometimes we have men’s groups where the men come down, they have coffee and donuts, and they just kind of share each other’s thoughts throughout the day. That’s social wellness, that’s getting them out of their isolated environment and bringing them out with others. Going to spiritual activities, maybe a church outing, or having lunch with your girlfriends. Those different things just make a world of difference. It brings them into that social environment where they’re having to participate, or they feel like they want to participate in conversation.”

“Older adults struggle with having that sense of purpose and feeling that they’re still needed, because their loved ones are busy. They’re busy with work. They’re busy with their own families. And so sometimes they feel a little like, I’m not really helping out anymore, I’m not really contributing anymore. So it’s very important to give senior adults that opportunity to give back to the larger community around us. And that’s what we do with Cogir Cares. We have a whole signature program that’s dedicated to that.”

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