About Our Services
We serve older adults across Texas by creating opportunities for meaningful social connection, engagement, and community. Our services are designed primarily for adults age 60 and older who do not have cognitive impairments. We also offer a specialized social calling program for adults ages 18–64 with physical disabilities.
At the heart of our services are meaningful, relationship-centered phone calls, with optional video conferencing. Through consistent, genuine conversation, participants build trust, strengthen their sense of mattering and belonging, reduce loneliness, and form meaningful social connections. These relationships also create opportunities for mutual learning and growth across generations, helping participants feel more connected to one another and to their communities.
What We Offer Older Adults
We offer intergenerational social connections for older adults. Through our program, older adults are matched with trained health professional students for ongoing social engagements and support.​
Our services help older adults to:
- Share their stories and build meaningful relationships.​
- Rediscover purpose, intentional living, and mattering.​
- Feel socially reassured and valued.​
- Feel connected to their community.​
These calls are more than conversations; older adults often regard them as lifelines to general wellbeing. ​
How Our Social Calls Work
Since 2021, we have connected health professional students with older adults across Texas through consistent, empathy-centered phone and video outreach. These weekly semi-structured interactions foster trusted relationships, meaningful conversation, mutual support, and intergenerational learning through mentorship and connection. Each interaction serves as an opportunity to reinforce dignity, belonging, mattering, and social connection. In addition to helping reduce loneliness and depression, these engagements also help identify unmet needs and potential safety concerns, enabling students to facilitate connections to appropriate resources and support services.
Student Impact:
Our students gain hands-on experience learning how to listen actively, respond with empathy, and navigate difficult or sensitive conversations. They develop an understanding of how social disconnection, and meaningful reconnection, can affect the physical, mental, and cognitive health of older adults. In addition, they learn to identify what matters most to older adults, recognize unmet needs, and explore solutions to address those needs through thoughtful resource connections and support services.
By connecting generations, our services help build a healthcare system that truly values and supports aging individuals while preparing the future health professional workforce to recognize and respond to social isolation and loneliness.
Why Social Connection Matters
Social disconnection, including social isolation and loneliness, can have a profound impact on the health and well-being of older adults. Research has linked social disconnection to a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, a 40% increased risk of recurrent stroke, a 50% increased risk of dementia, and a greater risk of premature mortality, including suicide.
The effects of social disconnection can extend across many aspects of health. It can contribute to increased stress, depression, anxiety, and a diminished sense of purpose. It may also affect health-related behaviors, leading to lower levels of physical activity, disrupted sleep, and difficulty following medical recommendations.
Meaningful social connection can be a powerful protective factor. By restoring and strengthening social relationships, older adults can build resilience, support their physical and emotional well-being, and experience a greater sense of belonging, purpose, and connection in later life.
How to Get Involved
If you or someone you know could benefit from regular social phone calls or video-calls or engaging activities with our students, we’d love to hear from you.​
Email:Â [email protected]
Email us with your name and contact information, and we’ll reach out to discuss more about our program and next steps.