Feature Articles
AARP Takes a Closer Look at
Social Isolation
Ron Mori | Manager - Multicultural Markets and Engagement, AARP
A Personal Story
I
f you’re like me, talking about caregiving, end of life
plans, and finances with parents are unchartered and
uncomfortable conversations that we all need to have at some
point (sooner than later). Unfortunately, the conversations do
not get easier with time, as other life issues change the ground
rules with each passing year. Within the Asian American and
Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, we have a cultural social
network dependent on family, heritage, and respecting elders.
In my case, my mother was the primary caregiver for my father
for six years. I never appreciated how much she sacrificed,
until I had the opportunity to be with her for an extended
period of time before my father passed away in 2010.
Terry Mori at the Japanese-American Memorial
in Washington, DC
Isolation Impact Vice President Walter Woods
of the AARP Foundation, along with VP of
Multicultural Markets & Engagement, Daphne
Kwok, and Marketing Consultant, June Kao met
with Legacy House residents and staff in Seattle,
Washington
6 • IMAGE • Spring/Summer 2014
As the youngest of three children, I had an unwritten
understanding with my brother and sister that I would always
be living close to my parents and taking care of life issues when
they surfaced, as they established lives far away while I started
my own family just four miles away. Shortly after my father’s
passing, I accepted a position with AARP in Washington, DC
and moved my family, increasing the distance between my
mother and me from four miles to 836 miles.
Suddenly, we were faced with being away and isolated from
loved ones for the first time in our lives. My mother, at 86, is
a true survivor in every sense of the word. She experienced
displacement and disruption in her life as a 14-year old
internee during World War II. Relocating from Huntington
Beach, California to Poston, Arizona under the watchful eyes
of armed soldiers is a memory she will never forget, so a move
by her youngest son and his family to another state was an
easy move for her to accept. However, the weight of seeing
my mother alone in Chicago and isolated was not an easy
concept for me to process.
Soon after working at AARP, I learned more about
social isolation, one of AARP Foundation’s impact areas,
and began to better understand my own situation. AARP
Foundation is taking the lead in working with some of the
best researchers across the country to learn more about
isolation and how to address the problem in innovative and
effective ways in targeted communities. Researchers have
found that social isolation among seniors who live alone
at home could be as high as 43%. Social isolation deeply
affects AAPI communities, but we are beginning to get a
better understanding of how our community is impacted
and how we can address the needs of those
affected. In a recent conversation with Daphne
Kwok, vice president of Multicultural Markets
& Engagement, Asian American & Pacific
Islander Audience for AARP, she mentioned,
“When I use the term ‘social isolation’ in the
AAP $