A little goes a long way.
Make a positive impact on an older person’s wellbeing and become a volunteer visitor.
Did you know that social isolation can be as harmful to an older person/kaumātua’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day?
That loneliness can damage cognitive function and lead to depression, cardiovascular disease and even death?
To help combat loneliness and improve the wellbeing of older people, Age Concern Otago offers a wonderful Visiting Service matching volunteer visitors with an older person in their community.
Our volunteers spend about an hour each week with a kaumātua, enjoying conversation and shared interests and activities.
Volunteers tell us they appreciate the opportunity to get to know an older person and that it is an insightful and rewarding experience.
The visits, meanwhile, make an invaluable, positive impact on the wellbeing of kaumātua.
Naturally, our Visiting Service is not intended to replace family, friends, or other visitors the older person already has but to complement them.
Age Concern Otago acknowledges and values the involvement of families in providing care and support to their older family members.
The focus, rather, is to keep older people in contact with their local neighbourhood and enhance their lives by providing company and friendship.
For more information on our free and confidential Visiting Service and how you could get involved, please contact Tristan on 479-3058.
