Do People Still Write Letters?

Some people still send letters, postcards and greeting cards through the traditional postal service. In 2021, CBS conducted a poll to find out how many people still wrote letters. Around 30% of respondents had written a letter in the past year.

However, 16% last wrote a letter 1 to 5 years previously, and a third last wrote a letter more than 5 years before. Around 15% had never written a letter at all.

For older adults in Omaha, Nebraska, and the rest of the country, sharing letter writing with younger generations can be a way to ensure this form of communication doesn't die out completely. Consider whether your grandchildren have ever received or written a letter, for example. If not, send them a letter and encourage them to reply in kind so they can enjoy the experience.

The Benefits of Letter Writing for Older Adults

For residents at Hickory Villa assisted living community or older adults anywhere, the act of writing letters can have numerous potential positive benefits. They include:

• Enhanced cognitive function. Writing letters puts several brain functions to work, including those related to language, communication, memory and fine motor skills. Keeping your brain active with these types of tasks can help improve cognitive function or maintain baseline functionality as you age.
• Better mental health. Research has shown that expressive writing can be good for your mental health. Whether you're journaling or writing letters to others, exploring your memories, thoughts and feelings on paper can help you process emotions, come to conclusions you might not otherwise come to and find closure for certain topics.
• Improved social connections. Letters and greeting cards with personalized notes can help you foster stronger connections with others. Communication that arrives on paper is something tangible someone can keep and reflect on in the future. It also demonstrates a level of care and commitment that texts and emails don't tend to convey.
• A good outlet for creativity. Writing letters can offer a space for you to flex your creative muscles. You can find ways to describe things to others to help them picture your experience, and leveraging a thesaurus and dictionary might help you grow your vocabulary. If you enjoy visual arts, you can add small drawings, stickers and other items to your letters to make them aesthetically pleasing and use your visual creative skills.
• A chance for purposeful reflection. Writing by hand forces you to slow down as you get your thoughts out. For most people, it's slower than talking and, often, slower than typing. Taking the time to put each word on paper can help you better reflect on your experiences, especially when you're considering the best way to share them with someone else.

Tips for Building a Consistent Letter-Writing Habit

If you want to enjoy some of the benefits of letter writing, consider using these tips to build a habit of writing letters to others:

• Set a letter-writing time. Perhaps you work on writing letters for a while every afternoon before dinner. Or you might spend an hour each Saturday writing a letter. Establishing a routine makes it more likely you'll write letters regularly.
• Create a comfortable and fun space to write in. Invest in a writing desk and a comfortable chair, or find a lap desk that lets you write your letters sitting on your couch or even in bed.
• Get a few letter-writing supplies. Buy some pretty paper and a pen you enjoy writing with. You might also invest in stickers or other items to decorate and personalize your letters. Whether you like to write in plain black ink on lined paper or enjoy picking the perfect color paper for each recipient, do what makes the habit fun for you.
• Start small. If writing a letter that's a few pages long seems daunting, start with something shorter. A pretty greeting card with a short message in it can be just as meaningful.
• Join a letter-writing group. You can start a letter writing habit by sending letters to friends and family. But you might also search for pen pal groups online and find new friends who love to exchange traditional mail. The Directory of Letter Writing Societies has collected letter writing groups from all over the country you can check out.‍
• Use letter writing as a service. You can also write letters through organizations that connect you with soldiers, older adults, sick children or others you can support with kind letters.