When you were young, your parents never left your side. So, you should also do the same now when they are frail and old.
Many children say that they are having a hectic schedule for not being able to spend time with their old parents. But there are also people who want their parents to live longer. They need to exert more effort to be with them. One study has revealed that if you spend more time with them.
The University of California in San Francisco has done a study and delved into the correlation between loneliness and functional decline in older adults. The study revealed that if you spend more time with them, it can help extend and improve the quality of aging adults’ lives.
According to the research, old people who have companions live longer and enjoy an improved quality of life.
The study has been done for six-years and involved 1,600 adults aged 60 and above. The parents were asked whether they felt left out or isolated and if they lacked companionship by the researchers. The people who were having a more lonely feeling also had more difficulty doing daily activities, such as climbing stairs or upper extremity tasks. So, the researchers came into the conclusion that who they were feeling intensely isolated or lacking companionship more likely to die at an earlier age.
The lonely aging people and have disrupted the immune system which can result to depression and other serious problems.
The study said that, loneliness is “a subjective feeling of social distress that encompasses lacking companionship and a sense of not belonging.” It also said that loneliness causes chronic stress, which can lead in the inflammation and disruption of the immune system. It gives rise to depressive symptoms, causes loss of sleep, and affects biological symptoms related to increased mortality and morbidity once the immune system is inflamed and disrupted.
The parents cared for their children when they were young, so, children should also keep their parent’s company in their sunset years.
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Foundation has done the research and revealed that older adults who suffer from prolonged isolation are as prone to health risks as those people who smoke 15 cigarettes a day.