Well, social isolation is a new issue.

It really was highlighted during the pandemic, but for 50 years, Area Agencies on Aging, senior community centers, have been combating social isolation with older adults.

We know it has an incredible negative impact on someone's health if they're socially isolated.

So the Department of Aging, its partners, the 52 Area Agencies on Aging, and our senior centers, 455 senior centers throughout the state of Pennsylvania, offer programming for older adults to come, socialize, take part in community activities, get connected to friends and neighbors, and to make sure that they don't think that they're alone in this.

We are all in this together.

We are all aging together, and we want to make sure that our programming is robust and meets the needs of each individual community all across Pennsylvania, whether it be a kayak program that they have through the Greenhouse Project here in Lackawanna County, or another arts program that they run in Glare County.

These programs are really transforming the lives of older Pennsylvanians in a big way and making sure that they feel that there's people who like them that want to stay connected, that want to be part of the community.

And it really does have this incredible benefit to their health.

It has an incredible way of making sure that they continue to thrive in their communities and stay part of their communities for as long as they want to be.

Just about every older adult that I know really wants to age in place in that home, in that community that they love.

And so we do everything that we can at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to enable older adults to stay in their homes because we know that their physical health, their psychological health, just their ability to work and to thrive, volunteer in their community, really, really is maximized by being able to stay in that home that they love.

That can include services like help with cooking, bathing, dressing, transportation to doctor's appointments and other vital transportation needs.

And depending on the needs of the individual, we can tailor a plan to help provide those necessary services so that someone who would otherwise have to go to a nursing facility is actually able to stay in their home.

Older adults can go to pa-navigate.org and type in their zip code, and then they'll have a whole bunch of options that they can click on.

Do they need help with transportation or food or housing or clothing or other assistance with their daily needs?

And it's a great resource to use, super easy, and it connects them to resources right there in their local community.

Volunteering in itself really helps support seniors who are in their communities if they need, you know, meals delivered or if they need someone to help deal with social isolation, transportation to a medical appointment and those kinds of things.

But a lot of those activities many times are done by volunteers.

It gives you an opportunity, one, to get to know your family, friends, and community.

It gives you an opportunity to almost give back to that community as well.

I find that I utilize my social work skills in a lot of different ways, serving on a board, sometimes serving in a community group that's serving as advisors to develop programs for seniors.

It keeps me busy, keeps me active, keeps my brain working, and I've actually learned a lot.

I thought I knew a lot, but I've learned a lot more about the resources that are out there in the community.

And I like my home.

I like where I live.

I like the community that I live in.

And I believe that that level of activity keeps me connected to the community.

There's so many different ways that you can get involved, whether it be reading to students in schools, whether it be helping people with their transportation needs.

The opportunities are endless.

The important thing is to reach out about what you like to do and see what is available in your community to do.