More Than Meals: An International Innovative Social Impact Project for France

Extract

Social isolation is a key social justice issue for older adults who are no longer working and are living alone. When older adults feel lonely and isolated, their self-esteem suffers. Older adults who live alone also have the highest risk of suicide (Yur’yev et al., 2010). A decisive component of social exclusion is the social dimension, which focuses on relationships with others, such as family members, friends, neighbors, and so on. This relationship network represents social capital at the individual level. It can serve as a “life net” that can be activated when necessary during emergencies or transitional challenges to obtain not only emotional support, but also material assistance (Pirani, 2013). Older adults often are treated as second-class citizens who have little to offer society. This negative view of older adults can result in ageism, a type of bias that can affect older adults’ daily lives (Yur’yev et al., 2010). GROUPE SOS (2018), a social enterprise based in Paris, France, developed “the concept of plural solidarity,” which means that “each individual has something to offer to the society in which he or she lives” (para. 2). GROUPE SOS reported that social exclusion can be reduced by “providing innovative solutions.” More Than Meals is an example of this type of innovation for providing an intergenerational friendship between younger and older adults.