Beyond Gratitude: What It Really Means to Value Older People

Every year on October 1st, we mark the International Day of Older Persons. It is a day of recognition, but recognition alone is not enough. To truly value older people is not simply to thank them for what they have given, but to recognise the lives they live now and to ensure those lives remain rich with dignity, connection, and meaning. 

Behind every older person lies a story. They are the mothers and fathers who sat by sickbeds through the night, the partners who weathered hardship and loss, the workers who kept industries moving, the neighbours who held communities together. They are people who raised children, tended gardens, made sacrifices, built homes, and stood up for what was right. They carry with them the richness of a life already lived; the photograph of a wedding day, the scarf that recalls a loved one, the painting that once filled an afternoon, yet too often those stories go unheard. Families move away, friends pass on, mobility declines, and weeks can go by without anyone to listen. 

The Weight of Loneliness 

Connection is not an abstract concept. It is the sound of your name spoken when you have not heard it for days. It is the opportunity to share memories, the joyful ones and the painful ones, as many times as you need. It is a conversation that lifts mood, steadies orientation, and quietly sustains wellbeing. 

Without it, lives contract. For too many older people, the only chance to speak comes in a hurried exchange at the checkout or during a doctor’s appointment. When human contact is reduced to these moments, it is not only sad but profoundly harmful. Loneliness erodes confidence, accelerates decline, and seeps into health. Research shows that loneliness in later life is associated with increased risks of dementia, stroke, frailty, depression and earlier admission into residential care (Kuiper et al., 2015; Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015; Geller et al., 2016). These are not abstract numbers; they reflect what happens when silence takes the place of connection. 

The Quiet Strain on Carers 

Alongside older people themselves stand the unpaid carers, sons, daughters, partners, who do their very best to juggle love and responsibility with the demands of work. Many hold down full-time jobs, keeping households afloat while also managing appointments, shopping, and care. They cannot be everywhere, no matter how much they want to. They feel guilty when calls go unanswered, or when the people they love reach out more often than they can respond. And older adults, for their part, rarely want to feel like a burden. Some keep their struggles quiet, rationing what they share. Others reach out often, and when they do, it is with the deep fear of being alone. Both sides carry the weight, and neither should carry it unsupported. 

More Than Sentiment 

The absence of connection is not a sentimental concern; it is a public health issue with measurable consequences. Studies show loneliness increases the risk of dementia by around 25–46% depending on population and method (Holwerda et al., 2014; Kuiper et al., 2015). Social isolation has been found to raise risk even further, by around 60% (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015). Lonely older adults are more likely to experience hospital admissions and to move into residential care earlier than would otherwise be necessary (Geller et al., 2016). Each of these outcomes carries human cost, and each carries system cost. Avoidable GP appointments, prescriptions, and emergency attendances accumulate and place pressure on services already stretched. 

Connection as Prevention 

At Sacana, we do not see connection as a luxury or an afterthought. We see it as prevention. Our service provides structured, one-to-one conversations with trained Matrons, delivered securely online. These are not casual chats, but safeguarded, stigma-free, and consistent sessions where older people can be themselves, share their memories, voice their concerns, or simply enjoy the relief of being heard. 

This is not therapy and it is not a helpline. It is a deliberate intervention that sustains independence and reduces avoidable demand on health and social care. When older adults are supported with regular, structured connection, they are more likely to remain safe in their homes, less likely to rely on GP appointments for non-medical concerns, and less likely to reach moments of crisis that require costly intervention. 

A Shared Responsibility 

Preventing loneliness in later life is not a task for health and social care alone. It is a responsibility that falls across sectors; employers, housing providers, local authorities, NHS, and community organisations. Many older people live in housing association or retirement settings. Others are supported informally by adult children who work full time and cannot always be present. Some remain in employment themselves, while others withdrew from community life after the pandemic. The circumstances vary, but the risk of disconnection does not. 

Sacana has been designed to work alongside these systems, not to replace them. It can be commissioned within prevention pathways, embedded into housing and voluntary provision, or offered by employers as support for older workers and carers. It provides an accessible first step for those least likely to attend group activities, and where commissioners choose, it can also link individuals on to local community opportunities. 

Valuing Older People Means Acting Early 

The International Day of Older Persons is a time to reflect and to celebrate, but it is also a reminder that appreciation must be matched with action. Older people have lived through wars, raised families, built industries, and contributed across generations. They deserve not only gratitude, but the chance to age with dignity, connection, and independence. 

We cannot wait for loneliness to translate into avoidable hospital admissions, residential care placements, or winter crises in the NHS. The most powerful way to value older people is to act early, to make connection part of prevention, and to ensure their voices continue to be heard. 

Sometimes the most meaningful form of care is simply a conversation. 

Talk. Connect. Thrive. 

References 

Age UK (2021). All the Lonely People: Loneliness in Later Life. London: Age UK. 

Alzheimer’s Society (2023). Dementia UK: The Full Report. London: Alzheimer’s Society. 

Geller, J., Janson, P., McGovern, E., & Valdini, A. (2016). Loneliness as a predictor of hospitalisation and nursing home admission in older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 71(6), 951–959. 

Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T., Baker, M., Harris, T., & Stephenson, D. (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 227–237. 

Holwerda, T. J., et al. (2014). Feelings of loneliness, but not social isolation, predict dementia onset: results from the Amsterdam Study of the Elderly (AMSTEL). Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 85(2), 135–142. 

Kuiper, J. S., Zuidersma, M., Oude Voshaar, R. C., Zuidema, S. U., van den Heuvel, E. R., Stolk, R. P., & Smidt, N. (2015). Social relationships and risk of dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies. Ageing Research Reviews, 22, 39–57. 

NHS England (2022). Unscheduled Care and the Impact of Social Isolation. London: NHS England.