Ron SmithPublished on Community Engagement: Got the Time?
What is community engagement? For some it is civic engagement – meaning active participation in your community and what happens in it. It can include activities, such as voting, volunteering or becoming a member of community organizations. According to Thomas Ehrlich of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, “Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skill, values, and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through political and nonpolitical processes. ”In its simplest form, it means taking the time to learn what’s happening in your community and trying to be a good city ambassador when conversing with others about city activities and events, candidates for election or proposed city policies. Better yet, it means taking some action when you disagree and try to make a difference. It is easy to understand how an involved citizenry can help to strengthen a community through the combined energy and wisdom. But why is this important to you as an individual?
A number of studies indicate that ‘engaged’ individuals may perceive a number of benefits to their physical and psychological health, to their personal esteem and self-confidence and to their social relationships. However, some of those same studies have found that civic engagement can have a downside for some individuals. Stress or exhaustion based on over commitments or misunderstandings may drain the person’s time, mental energy or even financial resources. Civic engagement needs to be tempered to fit an individual’s personal style.
Community engagement may just mean moving away from our daily comfort zone. We can get comfortable in our own settings. We have everything that we need right around us, our favorite chair, the pictures on the wall and our special mementos. The regularity of our daily routines is comforting. As I wrote about last month, building new relationships can take a lot of work, but it can also create a number of benefits to our health and well-being. Even if you feel comfortable being alone, social isolation can make you more susceptible to health issues and emotional problems. To take the greatest advantage of your gift of time, you need to be actively engaged. Spending time with friends, neighbors and new acquaintances can bring us companionship, humor, advice and comfort. With our closest friends we can share both the good times and the difficult times. This exchange can help to bring meaning in our daily lives. It creates a sense of self-worth and making a difference that is every bit as important as the civic engagement described above. Community engagement helps to create more and better connections that can result in a richer, healthier and more fulfilling life not only for us but also for our community of friends. A commitment to helping each other makes everyone stronger and better able to take care of themselves with a sense of vitality.
It can take a lot of work to reach out and make these connections. It is estimated that 1 in 5 older adults over the age of 65 lives alone. They often face a number of barriers that help isolate them from their peers and the community. Researchers believe that isolation can be just as detrimental to health as smoking and worse than being obese. Isolation has been linked to higher rates of mortality from high blood pressure, breast cancer, heart disease and other chronic illnesses. It can also contribute to a higher rate of falls and a likelihood to develop unhealthy behaviors. Isolation can gradually creep up on us as we slowly and maybe unintentionally distance ourselves.
How do we make those connections to enjoy the benefits of community? We can actively search for activities where we can invest our time helping our community or our neighbors. We can pursue groups that might share similar interests. Check out the calendar of upcoming activities being offered throughout the city at the Senior Center, Copper Sky or the new Library and Cultural Center. Perhaps a bus trip to a mystery museum, a tea party, lunch with a friend or a challenging game of cards will do the trick. Go listen to the City Manager, Rick Horst any time that you have an opportunity. Go to a City Council Meeting. A good donut and a coffee are often hard to resist.
Sometimes it is just a matter of planning that is needed to draw you out and excite you. Perhaps planning for a vacation or a road trip to finally see our families or friends again. Joan Lunden in her book Why Did I Come into this Room credits her mom with teaching her the benefits of planning. Her Mom had told her that “Half the fun of doing anything is anticipating and planning for it. ”So, for her, having plans and goals has helped to keep her excited and moving forward. Joan says that planning for an exciting future is one of the best kept secrets of successful aging. Whatever it takes to get you involved – do it! Have a neighbor or a friend you haven’t seen in a while, reach out to them. Then go grab a donut or a cup of coffee and plan for your next activity!
Lunden, Joan (2020), Why Did I Come into This Room – A Candid Conversation about Aging. Forefront Books, pp 269-273
Ron Smith is a Maricopa resident and an aging-in-place advocate. He is a member of the Age-Friendly Maricopa Advisory Committee, a member of the Maricopa Senior Coalition and a certified Aging-in-Place specialist (CAPS).
This article appeared under a different title in the July 2021 issue of InMaricopa Magazine.
