As the days get shorter and colder, DOH is sharing the benefits of healthy friendships that span generations. Find Your People, the agency’s social connection project for people 55 and older, is designed to help older adults expand their social circles. The campaign project website features tools to help adults meet new people, including tips for meeting people across generations. 

“Intergenerational friendships give us an opportunity as a human culture, and as human beings, to be supportive of one another,” says Marci Getz, director of Healthy Aging Initiatives at the Washington State Department of Health. 

In her early 20s, Getz made friends who were generations older than her—people she met as a volunteer crisis counselor and in a book club. As a graduate student in her late 30s, she made friends with fellow classmates young enough to have been her children. Now 58, Getz has friends both younger and older.  

For older adults, social connections can be particularly important for protecting mental health and quality of life, according to the World Health Organization. In 2010, 12.3% of Washington residents were 65 or older. In 2023, that rose to 17.5%, according to state figures, and the number of older adults continues to grow. Yet many adults face challenges in connecting with others, from difficulty finding peers to socialize with or trouble navigating conversations with younger generations.