Senior Center

With more and more baby boomers moving into senior citizen status every year in better health and better shape than all generations before them, it is important to provide activities to keep the thinking and moving. The Haralson County Senior Center provides just such a place by offering a variety of activities to stimulate mental and physical health.

Senior Services also gives residents a chance to travel and enjoy special events. The center prgram includes various games and fun activities including game day on Wednesday and line dancing and aerobics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Visiting the center and joining its activities provides another key benefit, that of socialization and friendships; which is hard to get when you stay at home. The Senior Center provide seniors with social interaction, stimulation, and the chance to get meet and engage with new people.  Social interaction is especially important because it prevents feelings of social isolation, especially common among seniors.  The percentage of American adults who say they’re lonely has doubled from 20 percent to 40 percent since the 1980s.

Isolation is also responsible for negative health outcomes and mental decline. Isolated seniors are also more likely to need long term care as they age. Research shows that seniors who have more fulfilling lives tend to live longer. This is because they are happy and content. When seniors socialize and build a well-knitted social circle, they become mentally and emotionally strong, which helps them deal with life’s daily stresses with courage and great strength.

Apart from that, it also helps them create a higher self-perception, which in turn lowers the levels of life dissatisfaction and loneliness.

According to a study by the University of Rochester, seniors who are socially active enjoy a plethora of health benefits, such as the reduced risk of heart attacks, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. Therefore, socializing is important for the elderly. Social activities can keep their minds sharp and mentally engaged, thus preventing the onset of serious ailments.