Seniors over age 65 are set to outnumber children under 18 for the first time in the U.S. within the next decade. San Diego County's senior population is projected to rise by 21%.
Leon Christiansen, 82, sits in his apartment in San Diego, Calif., on March 28, 2024. Christiansen is one of thousands of seniors living alone without family support in San Diego County.
“I wasn't dead, dead. I was unconscious, you know, barely existing dead. I still had a breath, but not much,” Christiansen said.that around 101,000 people over 65 live alone in San Diego County. That's about 21% of the senior population. National research supports that number, a 2020 study found approximatelyChristiansen is now 82. He never married or had children, although he said he came close a few times. It’s been more than 20 years since he’s seen any family.
“So like people to help you get groceries, people to have to get medicines, people to drive you to the doctor versus even having, like an emotional, intimate relationship sort of that emotional support.” “Of the individuals I know here, at least six of them have no other immediate family except us,” Christiansen said.has linked social isolation and loneliness in older adults to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and cognitive decline.
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