As cold creeps in, older adults find creative ways to stay socially connected and physically active

INTERVIEWER: We're heading into the colder months, and that means many of us tend to cocoon in our homes until spring. And while that sounds cozy, for those among us who are older and already isolated, the seclusion can have serious consequences.

As we age, how can we continue to live a vital and connected life. It's something Steve Hoover has thought a lot about in his work with Minnesota seniors. He's the Healthy Aging Coordinator at the Central Minnesota Council on aging. He joins us right now. Welcome, Dr. Hoover. How are you?

STEVE HOOVER: I'm well. Thank you for having me.

INTERVIEWER: Good. I'm glad you're here. Healthy aging. I have heard that phrase a lot over the years. What does it mean exactly?

STEVE HOOVER: Well, there's a lot of ways to look at healthy aging. And I think one of the key things that we're involved in is making sure that people stay actively engaged. Social connections are such an important part of our lives across the lifespan. But in particular as we get older. We tend sometimes to, as you just mentioned, isolate ourselves for a variety of reasons.

And, of course, there's nothing wrong with the occasional time of wanting to be alone. But the idea here is that what we want people to do is to stay socially active, physically active, mentally active, emotionally engaged. So we want to encourage people to not make some drastic pulling back as they age.

INTERVIEWER: That sounds great. But it's really hard to do that. I'm wondering what are the consequences if you're not as engaged as you should be, and you are isolated, especially in rural Minnesota.

STEVE HOOVER: It is an issue in rural Minnesota. And we're seeing that more and more in there. I mean the data are pretty clear about being actively engaged in some capacity. Whether it's through a faith, or through groups that you meet with. And it doesn't have to be a large number. It needs to be significant quality interactions with other people. Somebody that you can confide in. Somebody that you can talk to.

Somebody that you can share experiences with. Or find purpose and meaning with someone else. We do Men's Sheds as an example. And especially something that's important in rural areas where they are isolated and it's very easy, especially as we go into this time of year, to have those connections decrease.

INTERVIEWER: Did you say Men's Shed?

STEVE HOOVER: I did. One of the things that has been around at least since the 1970s in Australia and the United Kingdom is a concept of Men's Shed. And what they are is, they're just a place for men to get together, retired or senior men, they have a hashtag called shoulder to shoulder. The idea is that they come together to work on some meaningful projects. It could be community projects. It's the idea that they're finding some place to go, and share, and talk, and do things. That's the shoulder to shoulder concept.

I'm on the board of directors of the Minnesota Men's Shed, and we started one here at Saint Cloud. Actually Minnesota has the largest number of Men's Shed in the United States. So there's a real interest here in the state. But it's a great place for guys to get together and work on things.

INTERVIEWER: Do men have more of a problem with engaging than say, women.

STEVE HOOVER: In general, yes. And that's why we talk about the shoulder to shoulder concept. The Sheds actually began with the idea of getting retired and senior men to make healthy choices both physically, emotionally, nutritionally. And the idea was that, and I hate to stereotype, but we tend not to be as open to sitting, and talking, and sharing our feelings.

But as we're working together, we can do things. We can connect with one another around projects. And so we have guest speakers in that talk about well, one example, just as you were saying, we're having come in and talk about how do you stay healthy and active during the winter months. What are some options for doing that when you may not be able to get out and walk as much as you used to.

So what are some different ways we can do this. And maybe come together and do some of these projects or things like that. So it is a way that for many men, especially in my generation and older, to come together around something that's fun to do. We're building birdhouses that'll be shared with kids in the spring. So it's an opportunity to do that, and then some intergenerational activities as well.

INTERVIEWER: I'm betting they give some guys a purpose in life. And finding purpose in one's life at any stage is important, but I would think even more important as we age.

STEVE HOOVER: It is. It is. That's one of the things I find especially in working with men at the senior level, is that they look forward to retirement, and retirement is often viewed as I don't have to do certain things. But it's so seldom do we think about the reasons we've been doing those for the last 40 years, which have provided that purpose and meaning in our life.

And then all of a sudden it just ends. And so there's this, languishing if you will, that goes on. It's OK to go to the activities, to be physically active, to go to senior centers and do things. But the idea with the Sheds is that we try to give them something more. Something that provides some purpose and meaning. Social connections, giving back to the community. Those kinds of things.

INTERVIEWER: Is this the purpose that you found in your life. I mean, I believe you were a professor at Saint Cloud State for a number of years. And then you took this encore position on.

STEVE HOOVER: Yeah. Well, I retired and then I did a year of volunteer with the AmeriCorps VISTA doing conflict resolution in the schools. And then retired for about seven months and found that I did. I needed something that was engaging. Something that I enjoyed. And I taught lifespan development.

So this was really a manifestation of moving into a different stage in my life and exploring it for myself. But it's been a wonderful journey. And the council has given me an opportunity to explore it in ways that I don't think I would have had in other settings. So I can very much relate to the concept of needing some purpose and meaning in our lives at any time.

INTERVIEWER: What about the physical activity part of this equation. When folks who may have some aches and pains, or maybe some form of disability are listening they're thinking, well, this sounds great. But yeah, I'm having trouble moving here. How can I help myself, especially as you say, when you get into these winter months, it's really hard to get outside.

STEVE HOOVER: Well, that's a wonderful thing about connecting with a lot of the senior centers and centers around the state that have what are called evidence-based health promotion programs. And those are programs that keep people active. We have opportunities for them to do it in a variety of different modalities.

I teach a Taijiquan, moving for better balance, and we do it either seated, or standing, or chair assists. So there's opportunities for everybody to keep moving. And we do want them to do it at the level that they can. And, of course, with the pandemic, one of the brighter sides of that was that we shifted most of our classes, not all of them, to virtual.

And many of them are now what we call blended so people can participate from home and stay connected and do the activities. Maybe if they didn't want to drive in to a class, they can connect via zoom, and participate in the class. So there are opportunities probably more than we've had before to stay connected and stay active.

INTERVIEWER: We have a large listenership in greater Minnesota, professor. Is there a clearinghouse? Can someone Google their nearest senior center? Is there a place where there are listings of various senior centers around the state?

STEVE HOOVER: Well, one of the things you can do is, you can go to your local, each one we have six or seven area agencies on aging. So ours is the Central Minnesota Council on aging. And there's one of these scattered throughout the state in six different regions. And so connecting with that or connecting with the Minnesota Bureau on Aging, Board on Aging, and then finding your local area agency on aging, triple As, as well as senior centers.

So both of those are opportunities to do this. There's also the Juniper program which provides opportunities to locate classes that you might want to take. So you could search for evidence-based health promotion classes in your area, or it doesn't have to be in your area because many of them are blended and virtual so that you don't have to take a class just at your local center.

INTERVIEWER: Hey, before you go I got to ask you, we have role models as kids, right? I bet you had heroes when you were a kid. What are the role models that you have for healthy aging.

STEVE HOOVER: I think a lot of the role models that I see personally for healthy aging are those people that have developed a sense of comfort and compassion for themselves, for others. They've integrated who they are. And I know it's a very vague concept in that. But they're at peace with where they are in their life.

And they understand some of that wisdom that they've begun to develop in their lives. And that they are at a stage where they're ready to give back. And it's much less maybe about themselves as it is about what they can give back to the community and to younger generations.

INTERVIEWER: Well said. Dr. Hoover, thanks for your time.

STEVE HOOVER: Thank you for having me.

INTERVIEWER: It's been fun talking to you. Dr. Steve Hoover is the Healthy Aging Coordinator for the Central Minnesota Council on Aging. You can find his organization online at CMCOA.org.