It’s no secret that age brings wisdom, but youth has benefits for older adults too. The younger people in your life might seem vastly different from you, but you both have different kinds of life experience and possibilities for new kinds of engagement that the other needs.
What’s more, these relationships might actually keep you healthier. “Active, involved older adults with close intergenerational connections consistently report much less depression, better physical health, and higher degrees of life satisfaction. They tend to be happier with their present life and more hopeful for the future,” writes Susan V. Bosak, MA, a social researcher and co-founder at The Legacy Project. Here are four advantages of spending time with younger folk.
1. Age-Diverse Friendships Build Social Capital
The more social contact you have as you age, the more social capital you have — a key criteria for mental health in older adults. Thus, one of the most important things an older adult can do is to develop a social network that’s “age diverse,” according to Brian Carpenter, a psychologist and professor at Washington University in St. Louis, specializing in gerontology.
Carpenter points out that eventually same-aged friends may experience similar age-related limitations, but an age-diverse group of friends can have lasting benefits. “You learn new things and you’re exposed to new ideas. It can be more stimulating, invigorating when you’re exposed to people across generations,” says Carpenter.
He cites an example from a course he teaches on aging in which he brings together freshmen college students with low-income minority older adults. The students decided on four cultural outings. In a recent class, they suggested an edgy theater show called Fun Home that Carpenter thought the older adults wouldn’t want to attend. When in fact, he says, “They were super psyched about it.”
Carpenter also recommends that older adults join “almost any organization that’s attractive to a wide range of ages.” He suggests book clubs, movie clubs, dancing, gardening or walking clubs. Clubs offer motivation and structure to get you up and out of the house for activities, and a diverse age range provides access to new experiences.
2. Younger People Can Keep Your Mind Sharp
Every generation has its own way of thinking and its own set of values and customs that change over time. Bringing older and younger people together allows for a cross-pollination of ideas that’s good for the mind.
“If you’re spending time with younger adults who have an expertise or body of knowledge that’s different than your own, that’s going to stretch your cognition in new ways,” Carpenter says. Younger people “can press and test your cognition in ways that are helpful at maintaining all those important neural connections.”
3. Mentoring Creates Purpose
One of the most time-tested ways of getting older adults and youth together is through mentorship programs. Older adults bring their many honed skills that come with years of experience which youth can learn from. For older adults, mentorship also has advantages on the aging process such as increased patience, a greater sense of well-being.
In fact, research has found mentorship benefits older adults as much as it does youth. The authors of a report from the Stanford Center on Longevity write, “in promoting the well-being of the next generation, older adults experience fulfillment and purpose in their own lives.” Feeling purposeful can contribute to a sense of leaving behind a legacy, as well.
4. Younger People Help Us Stay Tech Savvy
We live in an age of constantly transforming technology. Younger people, often called digital natives because they’ve grown up taking technology for granted, intrinsically keep up to date and can translate for those less tech-savvy. Community centers and YMCAs host events where older adults bring in their technology for a lesson with younger people. Deep conversation and lasting friendships often result.
This is Part 1 of Lifetime Daily’s two-part series on the benefits of intergenerational connections.
