An article published by the NIH National Institute on Aging on April 23, 2019 starts: “Human beings are social creatures. Our connection to others enables us to survive and thrive. Yet, as we age, many of us are alone more often than when we were younger, leaving us vulnerable to social isolation and loneliness—and related health problems such as cognitive decline, depression, and heart disease.” We couldn’t agree more. So consider the plight of Japanese seniors who are suffering alone, either from the death of a spouse, separation or estrangement from adult children, and, increasingly more common, alone in the midst of strangers in a nursing home. There’s one more twist. We’ve noticed in our interactions with senior patients that those who are native Japanese-speakers and learned English as a second language begin to lose their English language skills as they age and experience cognitive decline. Given there are very few Japanese-oriented nursing homes, many Japanese seniors are less and less able to communicate with those around them with each day, making them linguistically isolated and at greater risk of precipitous mental decline.

To fight this trend and alleviate senior social isolation, CJMH sends psychology interns, sometimes accompanied by volunteers, on senior visits (to their home or nursing home) and speak to them primarily in Japanese. These visits are very valuable for raising their spirits, performing wellness checks, and forestalling mental decline as we engage them in table games and recounting stories in Japanese and English.