I’m pretty close with my parents. They live about 30 minutes away and we try to spend as much time together as possible. Some weeks are harder than others, and I will admit there are times when I go days- even a week- without talking to them. That might not sound like a big deal, especially considering they are in relatively good health and in their mid 70’s. The thing is though, you just never know right?
Obviously there’s no way to guarantee an extension of your parents’ lives, but what if a phone call from you could possibly help? It couldn’t hurt, right?
A recent study on loneliness, just calling your parents more often could help them live longer. The researchers followed about 1600 older adults (the average age was 71) for six years, and kept an eye on how lonely they felt. Those who showed signs of loneliness were significantly more likely to pass over the course of their study. The ones who were more social tended to live longer. We’ve heard this before but until now most studies focused on people having active social lives and spending time with friends. Now they say a call or skyping could help too.
We don’t have them forever so it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try…… read more about it here.
