Program at Butler Senior Center Aims to Help Older Adults Make New Friends
Care Connection for Aging Services invites you to join
Circle of Friends at the Butler Senior Center.
Circle of Friends is geared toward seniors (Age 60+) in need
of more social support and connection in their community. The program starts
January 8th at 10 a.m. and will meet every Monday for twelve weeks. During
the first meeting, the participants will talk about their interests so that the
sessions can be tailored to their interests. The rest of the meetings will
focus on topics and activities that the group chooses. A moderator will help to
guide the sessions, but members will be able to connect naturally.
“The goal is for them to become friends, really,” said
Marilyn Gunter, Family Caregiver Director for Care Connection for Aging
Services. “It’s a way to bring together people that would not meet otherwise to
form that friendship. It’s to allow members to form closer bonds from week to
week.”
Several Care Connection Care Managers have trained to
moderate and administer the program through St. Louis University, which adapted
it from Helsinski University in Finland to address the growing challenge of
social isolation among older adults. The goal of the program is to help participants
form bonds of friendship that last long after the sessions have ended.
Those interested in participating in Circle of Friends can
register at the Butler Senior Center or go online to www.goaging.org/event/cofbutler.
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Care Connection for Aging Services, a non-profit area agency
on aging, operates 21 locations in 13 West Central Missouri counties, including
Bate County. The mission is to provide opportunities to create positive aging
experiences. To learn more, call Care Connection at 1-800-748-7826.
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