Finding a home for Nenagh Men’s Shed

Denis Fiinerty outlines the importance of a local men's shed in tackling social isolation for older men

The recent revelation that the Men’s Shed organisation has no venue in which to meet should trouble us all, and here’s why.

Many of our elderly population, the male population in particular, experience loneliness and depression resulting in a much reduced ability to actively participate in community activities. Depression and loneliness in old age are significant predictors of a decline in what I call functional health. Even though many believe that this progression is inevitable as people age, recent research dispels that notion. We as a society need to do all we can to combat loneliness for the elderly. In fact, our elderly population throughout their lives have developed many skills that allow them to cope better with adversity than many of our young population. There is much that we can learn from them in these matters.

SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Health in old age is a complex matter. It is not the absence of disease because it is obvious to all that the prevalence of diagnosable conditions in the elderly is high. It might be instead defined as how well people age and how, given their medical problems, they manage to maintain their social relationships, their religious beliefs and their socio-economic positions. Maintenance of these life activities can contribute in large measure to allowing people to age happily and successfully.

Loneliness does lead to serious health consequences. Sociability does play an important role in protecting people from psychological stress.

The lack of a social outlet to meet others of a similar age is crippling our elderly population. They are in dire need of meaningful engagement with their social peers.

The idea that once you reach a certain age that you should have nothing much to do, and pretty much nothing to look forward to, has to be challenged. This is why we need social spaces for our elderly to meet. This is why we need a place to house the Men’s Shed organisation. All over the country the organisation is rescuing people from loneliness, isolation and boredom.

Enabling people to age well is one of the greatest challenges facing our society in the 21st century. Recently, during a visit to Canada, Pope Francis addressed this topic and pleaded for “a future that is not indifferent to the needs of the aged to be cared for and listened to”.

He went on to say that “we need to build a future in which the elderly are not cast aside from the standpoint that they are no longer useful”. Remember Pope Francis is 86 years of age.

THE SIMPLE TRUTH

Now that our elderly have reached a certain stage in their lives they are ready to take on a new role in our society, and we should be willing to honour that. The Men’s Shed organisation is a group that can help to fill that gap in people's lives. Whether it is cooking, sculpting, singing, making or breaking, it offers our elderly men a precious opportunity to enrich their lives and the lives of those around them. This social contact will most assuredly help these men to figure out their place in the world and to figure out what their next steps might be.

The opportunity for the elderly to engage in exercise, debate, or any activity which is curtailed in our fast moving world, will have a positive impact on the community as a whole. We need to engage with them, celebrate with them, contemplate their whole lives, their accomplishments, their contributions to society and their ongoing willingness to give their time and labours to others.

In conclusion, we as a society must back our elderly population and give them every assistance to live well and age well. They have made an invaluable contribution in shaping our country during their working lives and can continue to do so into their old age. Providing them with the infrastructure they need to maintain their social connections will be a bonus to our society immediately and in the long run.

Let’s find them a home!