Spotlight on Seniors’ Mental Health

Written by Eric Litwiller MHA Director of Development and

Communications

Programs for Active and Social Seniors

The desire of seniors to “age in place” rather than relocate to senior care facilities is understandable. However, the chances of those seniors being near family supports are slim, creating a real risk of mental health concerns for the roughly 45,000 seniors who call Wichita home; even more so for those who live alone, as 14 million seniors in the U.S. do.

The cost of elder fraud and scams in the U.S. increased 500 percent to nearly $1.7 billion between 2017 and 2021. And a University of Michigan poll on healthy aging recently reported that the number of seniors who feel isolated more than doubled from the same poll just two years earlier. When seniors feel isolated, they are at significantly higher risk of unhealthy weight loss, depression, substance use, and cognitive decline, among others.

The Mental Health Association (MHA) has long offered programs in our Aging Services division to offset these concerns, including the RSVP program, which keeps seniors engaged by providing them with opportunities to volunteer. Our most popular program is Senior Companions, which places volunteers 55 and over with isolated seniors to run errands, play games, cook meals and have conversations. The volunteers receive a small stipend, while the seniors remain active and social. It also provides respite services for family members who may have been pressed into care-giving duties without training, and who need some time to care for their own mental health.

Unfortunately, these programs and others like them have been placed in financial limbo in recent years as past sources of funding have been stretched beyond capacity. Without the support of companies like Rhoden Roofing, 3ten Architecture, and Scholfield Honda, they might already be gone.

If your company includes senior care among the philanthropic causes that matter to you, please consider calling our development office at 316.651.1241 to discuss ways to be involved.

Thank you to Angel Culver, Realtor with JP Weigand & Sons, for her gracious support of this column and the MHA mission.