This week (April 24 through April 30) is Global Intergenerational Week, an annual worldwide campaign, organized by Generations Working Together and many partner organizations, encourages everyone to embrace intergenerational practice and relationships. Intergenerational relationships can help to connect generations and promote understanding while reducing loneliness and isolation.
Most people know and recognize that feeling socially connected with others is good for us. It improves our moods and our health. You can read more about the epidemic of loneliness and isolation in the United States and the connections between health and social interaction in our blog post from 2023. But what specifically about intergenerational friendships is so important?
Intergenerational friendships can bring many benefits to older and younger individuals. For example, younger people may receive mentorship-like guidance from befriending older adults who can share life experiences and advice with them. Everyone’s brain benefits from learning new things and being challenged. Whether learning to play a new card game or figuring out a new social media platform, it is good for us to stretch what we know. These friendships can also change our perspective on aging. A 2022 study in the European Journal of Aging found that older adults with friends more than 10 years younger than themselves feel younger and are more satisfied with the aging process.
Friendship is about sharing our perspectives, learning from one another, and supporting one another. Forming and maintaining friendships with people who are different from us – whether they are a different age, grew up in a different place, follow a different belief system, or have a different cultural background – can increase empathy, help us learn new things, and open our minds to new ideas.
Making friends is not always easy, especially making friends of different ages…let CMSS help! Our Senior Connections program accepts people of all ages to be part of our intergenerational community. Get involved by filling out the Contact Us form on this page: https://www.cmsschicago.org/services/senior-connections/.
