The Catholic Health Association of Manitoba (CHAM) is aiming to help older people in our province feel more included, cared for and connected. The Social Bridges pilot project wants to address loneliness and isolation in our senior populations, but Gladys Hrabi, the Executive Director of CHAM, sees the project as so much more than supporting the elderly.
“This is about helping everyone be a part of a solution,” she explains. “I really want this project to be intergenerational; to find youth and people of all ages to connect. The young people can learn from the wisdom of lived experience, and maybe they can help with technology, for example. Older adults will benefit from company and connection because all of us can find meaning and purpose in our lives through connection. We can help each other – it’s true bridging.”
Hrabi is open to whatever bridging might look like in practice, including encouraging volunteerism at personal care homes, creating groups or activities or finding more ways to engage organisations.
The plan for the project in its early stages include hosting workshops on loneliness and connection, meeting with seniors’ groups and learning about the broader landscape to rediscover solutions that are already working. “We’ll be hosting a first workshop on October 16th to invite people to consider what we can create together, here in our communities,” Hrabi explains. “We have two poets who do readings at personal care homes, and a musician who fosters connection with song. They’ll be a part of the workshop to share their experiences and then we’ll explore ideas. What else can we do? What other projects can we create?”
There is also a community connection piece to the Social Bridges project. Hrabi, who has been in her role for less than a year, is heartened by the number of organisations and groups trying to find ways to lessen isolation among seniors, but she sees opportunities, too.
“Even within CHAM, we have a program for caregivers, to help them care for themselves, but not a lot of people know about it,” Hrabi shares. “And I wondered: how many other projects are happening in the city that we don’t even know about?”
She’s been working on connecting groups and experts from the city to create a collaborative movement of volunteers and organisers. “We can learn so much from each other,” continues Hrabi. “I’m a social worker by training with a lot of experience and last week, I found out about ‘social prescribing’, where seniors are being asked to go for a walk in nature or near their living environment, or to make a plan with a friend. I only learned because I spoke to a colleague who shared that with me. If we join forces, I know we can go further together.”
Hrabi stresses that CHAM is a strong advocate for better quality of life for seniors, but that they can’t do the advocacy piece without action behind it. “It’s not enough to talk to government and funders, we need to be the ones who are figuring out how to get to people and help them. This pilot project is where we’re starting, but this isn’t going to be where we’ll end. There’s much more to come.”
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To learn more about CHAM and its goals, please click here.