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Ray's Advice
Staying Active & Connected
Ray's Advice
Staying Active & Connected
A chat a day keeps the doctor away...
Being active and connected with our family, friends and community is a vital part of our physical and mental wellbeing, regardless of our age.
Browse Ray's tips for getting out of the house and staying active and connected with your community.
Join a Men's Shed or hobby club
Men's Sheds or other hobby clubs are great opportunities for maintaining purpose and engaging with others.
At a Men's shed, you will use tools and machinery to create furniture and other items. You can gain a lot of experience and knowledge from other members, plus you're likely to build some great friendships.
Other hobby clubs could include crafts, model building, cooking, singing, dancing, walking groups and much more!
Enjoy a meal with others
It can be easy to fall into the routine of staying indoors and alone, rather than meeting up or inviting a friend over.
There are great benefits from enjoying the company of others including:
- Reduced stress levels
- Reduced risk of anxiety or depression
- Greater self-esteem
- Maintain or improve cognitive health including memory
Simply enjoying a meal with a neighbour, friend, family member of even the grandchildren, can be a simple way to avoid isolation.
Keep exercising
Like social connection, exercise has insurmountable benefits on your health. Just some of those benefits include:
- Preventing falls and injury
- Maintaining strength and mobility for everyday activities
- Reduced risk of a major health concern such as stroke, heart disease, dementia, diabetes and more
- Improved mental health - exercise gives you endorphins, and endorphins make you happy!
Going for a walk is a simple and effective way to get some exercise. Other options include joining a local exercise program, playing bowls, bocce or similar, or performing these simple upper body and lower body exercises at home.
Re-connect with old friends
Re-connecting with old friends sometimes seems harder said than done, but often finding the courage to call up a former mate can be a great move.
You may find you are going through similar experiences or maybe your old friend can offer words of wisdom and the support you didn't realise you needed.
Get out your contact book and start ringing!
Limited options for social interaction?
Seek social support from professionals
As you age, its not uncommon to find yourself with limited opportunities for social interaction. If you find you don't have many family or friends close by, there are other options.
You can arrange companionship through Benetas or a provider of your choice, or if you live in the Macedon Ranges region, you can join one of our many engaging social programs at Macedon Ranges Health.
If you find your ability to get out of the house is restricted, home care providers like Benetas can also offer transport and companionship on outings. Take a day trip, go to the cinema, out to lunch or shopping - the options are endless.
