How you can help seniors combat loneliness over the holidays

Doctors encourage family, friends and the public to look into including seniors in their holiday plans to combat loneliness and social isolation.

As Canadians enjoy the festivities in the next few weeks, some of the country’s seniors may be going through the holidays alone.

While loneliness needs to be combatted at every part of the year, experts say the holiday season can be particularly challenging.

Toronto-area senior Hyman Blajchman, 86, is facing another holiday alone in his home since his wife Yvonne passed away in 2012. While he spends time with his children and grandchildren that sense of loneliness is still there.

“You keep losing friends as the months go by and the years go by,” he said. “When you lose a member from your family, so in my case my wife … it’s like losing a limb, and what if you lose a limb? You miss a lot.”

Blajchman’s story is not unusual. A report from the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) earlier this month found that 41 per cent of Canadians aged 50 years or older are at risk of social isolation and up to 58 per cent in that group have experienced loneliness.

Dr. Samir Sinha, the director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and University Health Network in Toronto and the director of health policy research at the NIA, told Global News that severe loneliness is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day and can have significant health consequences.

During the holiday season, people experiencing social isolation may find that feeling heightened.

“The holiday time can be quite difficult for older adults who may have lost key family members or friends, who may have health conditions that might limit their ability to get out and about and gather with others,” he said.