PEABODY — One and three American adults ages 50-80 reported feeling isolated from others in 2023. That shouldn’t have to be the case, Rep. Seth Moulton told seniors at the Torigian Senior Center Tuesday.
Moulton, D-Salem, and other legislators on Capitol Hill are working on The Resilient Act to help combat loneliness in seniors. With the bill still in early stages of development, Moulton stopped by Peabody’s senior center Tuesday to gather feedback from local seniors.
He called the rates of loneliness among seniors “an epidemic.”
“I was delivering Meals on Wheels in Salem a few months ago, and I was amazed by how many seniors are just living alone in these big houses where they raised their families but they’re the only ones left there,” Moulton said Tuesday. “It’s an incredibly lonely existence.”
About 40% of those between ages 50-80 say they only have contact with people outside of their home once a week. Seniors who make less than $50,000 are also more likely to experience loneliness, Moulton said.
Social isolation and loneliness increases a senior’s risk for Alzheimers by 50% and accounts for roughly $6.7 billion in excess Medicaid spending each year, largely due to increased spending on stays at hospitals and nursing homes, he said.
The main feedback from the 20 or so people in attendance Tuesday: that places like the Torigian Senior Center are the best way to bring older folks together.
“This place has become sort of my world because I’m here every day,” Danvers resident Leonard Burgess said. “I’ve met so many people here that are now friends.”
He said some of the loneliness Moulton described following his wife’s death in 2015. A model ship maker, Burgess was first drawn to the senior center when it hosted a model ship show.
“I started to make model ships [at the senior center], and then started to realize what’s here,” he said. “There is so much.”
There are free weekly dances, movies and classes of all kinds, gym equipment and outdoor activities like bocce and pickleball. There are also lunches for sale at the Friends Café inside of the center and transportation to and from activities, along with social workers, healthcare professionals and just about any other support seniors might need.
The senior center is open to seniors from all over too, not just Peabody.
“What I love about the senior center is that you don’t have to have a lot of money,” said Carolyn Wynn, director of the Peabody Council on Aging. “Everybody’s welcome and you can just have a good time here and get a lot of supportive services.”
The senior center can help those who live alone find connection, but also seniors who are caregivers or still live with their spouse, since having one person be your whole world can be difficult too, Wynn said.
“It’s okay to say you are lonely,” Wynn said. “That’s [the biggest thing] for this legislation to reflect: that it’s okay, it happens and it could happen to any one of us.”
Contact Caroline Enos at{/em} CEnos@northofboston.com{em}.