Communications as Therapy:
The Science behind CaringFamily Connections

The scientific basis of the CaringFamily's Connections service is simply stated: regular, sustained communications between family and elders can add years to life, and add dramatically to the quality of those lives.

The system is based on a growing body of research suggesting profound impacts from regular contact with “social support networks” (notably family): reduced incidence of senior depression, anxiety, and withdrawal, especially among seniors new to assisted living or other senior care settings. Associated longevity improvements are strongly indicated. CaringFamily’s existing federal grants seek to quantify these and other effects in elder caregiving settings.

Additional studies are under consideration; please contact us to learn more, to join our research associates in their studies, or to become involved as a field study family.

Family and social ties lengthen life

Intuitively, we all recognize the importance friends and family in well-being and mental health. Only recently, however, has academic research attempted to quantify this effect for seniors.

In recent years, studies indicate that family communications have as much or more impact on wellness and longevity as any other single factor in elder's lives.

"Social engagement adds a sense of purpose to people's lives. It also seems to add years to those lives."

An August 1999 British Medical Journal study by Harvard's Thomas Glass focused directly on how involvement in various categories of activities affected elder longevity. Over 2,700 65+ year old New Haven, CT residents were observed in "the first study to examine the impact of social and productive activities on the risk of death among elderly people independently of physical fitness activities."

The study's findings were dramatic. "Social engagement was as strong as anything we found in determining longevity", asserts Glass. "It was stronger than things like blood pressure, cholesterol, or other measures of health." The report goes on to conclude that while "Physical fitness is important... social engagement is turning out to be just as critical to longevity... Social engagement adds a sense of purpose to people's lives. It also seems to add years to those lives."

These findings were echoed by John W. Rowe, M.D. and Robert L. Kahn, PhD, in "Successful Aging: The MacArthur Foundation Study," from 1998. As the study reports, "active engagement with life is achieved by close personal relationships with family and friends, and with continued involvement in productive activities." Further, "...people whose connections with others—family, spouse, and members of a organization—are relatively strong tend to live longer."

Severed social ties a threat to longevity

The converse of this finding has been repeatedly borne out in research.

Again, intuition tells us that isolation, especially from those closest to us, leads inevitably to depression, withdrawal, and ultimately, to poor health and even death.

"..people without close interpersonal ties are more than twice as likely to die than their counterparts with close interpersonal ties."

A 2001 Advances in Medical Sociology study by Faber & Wassserman observes "..that lack of social interaction leads to disabilities, depression, and even death for the elderly." A 2000 University of Dayton report confirmed this, finding that "...people without close interpersonal ties are more than twice as likely to die than their counterparts with close interpersonal ties... Not only does communication play an important role in determining people's mental and physical health, but, in addition, after they become ill, their communicative relationships seem to influence how quickly they get well."

The key factor in this dynamic appears to be depression. As senior care professionals know, depression is a “gateway disease” for elder decline, and mortality. It is caused and accelerated by isolation and loneliness; engaging an elder's social support network is one of the easiest and most effective ways of combating depression. As the National Institute of Mental Health states, "(d)epression frequently co-occurs with a variety of other physical illnesses, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes, and also can increase the risk for subsequent physical illness, disability, and premature death."

In short, the CaringFamily service represents a powerful new weapon in one of the most important battles in elder care—the treatment of depression.

CaringFamily: Extending & Enhancing Life

The above studies, and others, forge a strong link between the simple everyday interactions of elders and their families. As research repeatedly concludes, these communications are more than just pleasant diversions for elders—they're critical elements of a healthy, long life.

Assisted living and other senior care firms that adopt the CaringFamily Connections service are bringing both a powerful therapeutic benefit to their client base and an important positive impact to both top and bottom line results.

Contact us for more information.