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Healthy Aging By Sharon Johnson Social ties are matter of health as we age My neighbor is a retired professor of communication. Consider how handy that is for someone who is writing a weekly newspaper column. I also have concluded that it has potential usefulness if there should ever be any neighborhood disputes. At a backyard get-together, Gail can be relied upon to clearly communicate little-discussed facts about politics or history. He is the one who actively listens and remembers what he has heard. When you speak with him, you are amazed at the level of detail he knows about your life - and wonder where he got it, later realizing it came directly from you, in an earlier exchange. We are blessed with many wonderful and interesting neighbors, but over-the-fence conversations can be counted on to be vastly more engaging if Gail is involved. For Gail Myers, retired professor of communication, former university president, and twice-published (fiction) author, good communication is a way of life. As I age, I recognize that communication becomes more critical, in all its forms. That backyard dialogue, the chat with the first-grader looking for a walking stick or the brief exchange with the grocery store clerk about the ripeness of a melon are ways of connecting. And these connections are significant in enabling us to meet basic needs and build relationships. This is true throughout life, but it is particularly relevant when you get older and there are the to-be-expected feelings of isolation or a sense of disconnectedness. For aging people, good communication and active socialization can be life-critical. A Harvard research study suggests that engaging and communicating with one another may offer as great a benefit as exercise. The study followed 2,761 elderly residents of New Haven, Conn., for 13 years. After sorting out all the social and physical components of the 14 common activities that were analyzed, it was found that the participants in the study who were the most "socially connected" lived two and a half years longer. Another Swedish research study found that individuals with social ties had 60 percent less risk of developing dementia. The study is significant in that it took into account not only the number, but also the quality, of the social connections. (For example, just having children was not as important as being satisfied with your contact with them.) Gail Myers may not describe himself as "socially connected," but he would have to agree that he connects - personally and on the written page. He converses with knowledge and enthusiasm. He writes with sensitivity, savvy. Gail's new book, "The Crying Room," is the fictional account of a few summer months in a small Midwest town during the Depression. Gail is not a young man, but he writes about a young man, 19-year-old Rudy, with sublime understanding of life and death and transition. Gail's characters connect in sometimes unexpected ways. I read this book with complete absorption. I gave it to my husband - and my mother - to read. Then, I bought another copy and shared it with yet another neighbor. The beauty of good - make that "quality") communication - is that you want to keep it happening. Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.