Depression and loneliness among the older adults are the common contributory factors of mental health problems. Research studies indicate that about sixty percent of the elderly people do experience loneliness. Depression which is associated with loneliness is also another most common mental disorder that afflicts a significant number of old people. According to experts, it has been found that the cases for depression tend to be underestimated because depression can be in disguise for dementia.
The purpose of this presentation is to react to ‘Loneliness and depression in independent living retirement communities: risk and resilience factors’ article by Adams, Sanders and Auth 2004. Independent Living also sometimes referred to as Retirement Communities or Senior Apartments are specifically designed for seniors often above fifty five years of age who are active, healthy and capable of living without assistance. Such residential premises are often preferred due to security and conveniences of community living reasons.
One of characteristics of Senior Independent Living is presence of community activities such as social events, outings and golf just to mention but a few that are intended to keep these people lively and busy (http://www. seniorhousingnet. com/seniors/kyo/ind_living. jhtml, para. 1). However, findings from this article show that these residential congregational facilities though provides favorable environment for social exposure it is more probable that there may be no close relationship among the residents.
Studies conducted else where by Katherine Fiori, 2005 presented similar findings. She found that the size of people’s social circles is not important but the interaction with particular individuals was of significant importance. Her study did reveal that having a few close people whom one could relate to by visiting so often made a great difference than having a big number of more casual friends (Davis & Arbor, para. 1).