The Princeton Senior Living Understands the Importance of Socialization and Building & Maintaining Relationships

No matter our age, building relationships with others is fundamental in enriching our lives. Research has shown that people who enjoy healthy relationships, live longer and happier lives. Maintaining relationships as we age has numerous health benefits such as increasing our physical and mental health, increasing mental acuity, promoting laughter and more!

At The Princeton Senior Living, I, as the Resident Services Director, play a pivotal role in helping to create opportunities for our residents to build relationships with their peers as well as helping to maintain these relationships through daily events. Oftentimes, aging adults are afraid of senior living settings. They see it as an end to their independence. Most fear being isolated from family and friends. One of the stigmas associated with senior living is, “I’m too young and active to be in senior living.” Therefore, many avoid it as an option all together. Unfortunately, this means they also lose out on the abundant opportunities to create new friendships and memories that this setting provides.

In our community, we have a group of residents who are professionals at welcoming new residents and helping them to feel at home as they settle in. We also ensure that new residents are invited to join all events, based on their preferences. Once our residents take advantage of these events, they often find themselves meeting new people or even connecting with old friends or neighbors. Through our daily events and programs, we often see close friendships form that continue. Residents begin having meals together or even take trips out of the community for shopping and family get-togethers.

It is my goal to help build and foster these relationships and break the stigmas associated with senior living communities. We have a very diverse group of residents here at The Princeton and that shows in our day-to-day programs. We offer events from Zumba to cardio drumming and prize bingo to poker nights. The wide variety allows for every resident to have the opportunity to get involved and engage with others that share their same interests. We also have a few events that are fun for all, getting everyone involved, such as Friday Happy Hours and our weekly blood pressure clinics.

Our community stays very active! The age range of our residents is 75 to 102. We are always encouraging them to try new things, go on outings, and socialize with each other. All programs are open to both men and women, and if there is something new that you want to try, there is always someone willing to help show you the ropes. If someone thinks they are too active for senior living, they clearly have not seen how active we are here at The Princeton! There is always something to look forward to and if there is an event you want on the calendar, I encourage the residents to let me know and I will add it. We will then get a group together and spread the word about the new event!

Sources: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316

https://www.eddyseniorliving.com/latest-news/the-importance-of-senior-friendships-for-healthy-aging/