PATIENT of the MONTH January 2022 – Barry Katz THE JIMMY FUND
Don’t Spend Another Year Lonely! 5 WAYS TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS IN RETIREMENT Friendship just might be the fourth secret to longevity, right behind eating well, exercising, and getting plenty of sleep. According to the Mayo Clinic, making friends can reduce stress, improve your self-confidence, and give you purpose in life! People with good friends are also more likely to exercise and less likely to drink to excess. But making friends is tough, especially in your golden years. To finally kick loneliness to the curb in 2022, try these five tips. 1. Get a dog. Adopting a dog (assuming you truly want one) will incentivize you to leave the house for walks, vet visits, and more. You’ll likely attract new friends in the neighborhood when they stop to pet your pup, and you can also meet people at the dog park or obedience classes. If nothing else, you’ll have your dogs in common! 2. Join a hobby group. The easiest way to find friends with similar interests is to pursue those interests. If you like to quilt, join a quilting group, and if you kayak, look for an outdoors club near you. Facebook is a great resource for finding online hobby groups, too! Just type your interest into the search bar and select “Groups” on the left-hand side of the screen. 3. Volunteer. Volunteering has similar benefits to joining a hobby group with the added benefit of giving back to the community! There’s likely a cause for whatever you’re interested in, whether that’s food, animals, or sports. Visit VolunteerMatch.org to find opportunities in your area sorted by organization type. 4. Move to a 55-plus community. Also called retirement communities or active adult communities, these neighborhoods are known for their low-maintenance housing, amenities, and group activity options — and they’re all over the U.S. If you want to find friends in your age group to swim and play tennis with, a local real estate agent can help you find them. 5. Become a mentor. Mentorship is a valuable way to form friendships across generations. You can sign up for an existing program in the field you retired from or reach out to a local college or high school career center and offer your services. They’ll likely have graduates who’d love to meet you!
“The Jimmy Fund is a great charity to help out children who are suffering from a terrible disease. I am so lucky to have five healthy grandchildren. With this donation, hopefully it will help with coming up with a cure for the children who have this awful disease.” -Barry The Jimmy Fund exclusively supports the fight against cancer at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, raising money for both adult and pediatric cancer care and research to better the chances of survival for cancer patients worldwide. Barry has been a staple at ProPT over the years and is always a pleasure to work with. You will always know when he is at the clinic, as the sports talk will be flowing. He always makes his visits fun for all. He is winding down from his current case, but we hope that he stops by the clinic to talk sports, as the Patriots will hopefully play into February! We at Professional Physical Therapy would be honored to donate to the charity of your choice if you become our next Patient of the Month!
2 www.proptinc.com • 508-528-6100
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