{"id":647380,"date":"2026-05-03T18:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T18:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/647380\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T18:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T18:07:12","slug":"helping-older-australians-connect-socially-with-probus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/647380\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping older Australians connect socially with Probus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Loneliness often creeps up on seniors during significant life changes, including retirement; the death of a partner, family, or friend; deteriorating physical health; or maybe even relocation.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/endingloneliness.com.au\/news-events\/ending-loneliness-together-in-australia-white-paper\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ending Loneliness White Paper<\/a> published in 2020 reported that people aged 56 to 65 experienced increased vulnerability to loneliness, with rates of loneliness highest in Australians aged 75 and above, particularly since the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>The White Paper also found that loneliness has harmful effects on our seniors\u2019 physical and mental health, including:<\/p>\n<p>26% greater risk of premature mortality;<\/p>\n<p>29% increase in the incidence of coronary heart disease;<\/p>\n<p>32% increase in the risk of stroke;<\/p>\n<p>58% higher risk of developing dementia;<\/p>\n<p>increased odds of having a clinically diagnosed mental disorder, including phobias, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder; and<\/p>\n<p>increased suicidality and parasuicide.<\/p>\n<p>A significant contributor to loneliness is the surrounding stigma preventing people from sharing their feelings or reaching out for help and social connection.<\/p>\n<p>    <img class=\"group-hover:brightness-90 transition w-full h-auto\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-1-1024x737.png\" alt=\"1 1 1024x737\" width=\"1024\" height=\"737\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Social clubs like Probus easily combat loneliness and the surrounding stigma, offering non-judgemental friendship, ensuring retirees remain socially connected and active.<\/p>\n<p>Probus offers its members a monthly meeting where members join together to plan upcoming activities, enjoy morning tea and listen to interesting guest speakers. Throughout the month, members participate in a wide range of activities, which can include book clubs, walking groups and theatre groups. Members also enjoy travelling together on day trips, domestically and overseas.<\/p>\n<p>With interesting guest speakers, opportunities to learn new skills, explore new interests and hobbies, and a space to forge friendships, joining a Probus club is the best thing retirees can do to keep themselves engaged and connected, which will improve their overall mental health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p>    <img class=\"group-hover:brightness-90 transition w-full h-auto\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cover-images-for-AR-21-1024x737.png\" alt=\"Cover images for AR 21 1024x737\" width=\"1024\" height=\"737\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Probus clubs are non-political and non-fundraising with their goal to help members make new friends and combat the isolation and loneliness that often happens when retirees lose their social network.<\/p>\n<p>There are already thousands of Probus club members across Australia enjoying fun and friendship and they are open to everyone who is retired or semi-retired. To find your local Probus club, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/probussouthpacific.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/probussouthpacific.org\/<\/a> or call 1300 630 488.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Loneliness often creeps up on seniors during significant life changes, including retirement; the death of a partner, family,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-647380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}