Posts related to Isolation

Stay Connected While Social Distancing

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by Roslyn Daniels. This article originally appeared on Black Health Matters.

People all over the world, including Americans, are practicing social distancing during this coronavirus pandemic. We’re sheltering at home, leaving only when necessary to replenish essential supplies or to get in a little exercise. 

Yes, it feels strange, this interruption to our lives and regular routines, but everyone who can stay home should; it saves lives and helps halt the spread of the virus. 

We’re not, however, blind to a byproduct of all this enforced separation: loneliness. A survey of.... Read More

             

Self-Care During the Covid-19 Outbreak

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By Michelle Fritsch, PharmD, BCGP, BCACP, and Kathleen Cameron, BS Pharm, MPH. This article originally appeared on the National Council on Aging (NCOA) blog.

As we’re all navigating a lot of uncertainty, upsetting news, isolation, and grief, all of the self-care activities that were important for staying healthy before the pandemic may be even more critical now. Even though there is a lot of emphasis on COVID-19 right now, your overall health is just as important as any other time. The better controlled your chronic conditions, the better you’ll be able to fight the virus if.... Read More

             

Rural Communities Step Up to Help Their Hospitals

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by Diane Eastabrook. This article originally appeared on Next Avenue.

In the DC Comics town of Metropolis, the townsfolk had Superman to protect them from villains like Lex Luthor, Brainiac and Darkseid.

But in real-life Metropolis, Ill. (pop. 6,133), there is no larger-than-life superhero. There’s a 15-foot-tall statue of Superman in the town’s center, but nobody in this sleepy community across the Ohio River from Kentucky is betting he’ll be much help if the coronavirus (COVID-19) begins to spread there.

Sitting alone in her Metropolis home amid a statewide lockdown, 83-year-old Lena Mathews worries about getting the virus. “I am concerned. There is not a shot or anything for it,” she says.

Despite Mathews’ Read More

             

SAGE Launches SAGEConnect to Combat Social Isolation for LGBT Elders

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SAGE, the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT elders, has recently launched SAGEConnect, a program that matches LGBT elders with volunteer community members and allies in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many of our LGBT pioneers, the heightened need for social isolation has left them homebound with severely limited support networks. The one-to-one contact offered through SAGEConnect will help combat feelings of loneliness and disconnection during this unprecedented time of COVID-19, and ensure that elders are linked to resources if they are in need of help. ­

Because of the limited resources available to LGBT elders during this time, SAGE is utilizing its connection.... Read More

             

Direct Care Workers Can Address Social Isolation and Loneliness

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This article originally appeared on the PHI blog.

Illustration by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

A remarkable though unsettling new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has drawn attention to the extensive harm that social isolation and loneliness are having on the health and well-being of older adults. The report—Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System—provides a sweeping overview of these two issues, as well as a compelling rationale for why the.... Read More

             

COVID-19: We Must Care for Older Adults’ Mental Health

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by Christine Moutier, Chief Medical Officer, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This article originally appeared on the AFSP Lifesaver Blog.

No matter your age, mental health and well-being are influenced by numerous factors and are susceptible to change. Right now, most people, across all sectors of society, are being affected by the global health crisis related to the coronavirus. One particular group we should keep in mind during this challenging time is older adults, whose routines and usual support systems may be disrupted.

The most powerful factors that impact mental health and well-being for older.... Read More

             

Don’t Let Social Distancing Isolate Elders

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This article originally appeared on the NICOA blog.

Although the implementation of social distancing is necessary to flatten the coronavirus curve and prevent the current pandemic from worsening, the stress of isolation can have an affect on anyone. With elders designated as “high risk,” elders and those supporting them worry that precautions could further isolate this vulnerable community, exacerbating loneliness and stress.

Chronic stress is harmful to your health and can be particularly hazardous for elders. Although it’s difficult to determine the extent to which chronic stress affects the health of elders, there is undoubtedly a correlation.

Here are some articles discussing both the need to stay socially distant.... Read More

             

Hidden and Buried and Locked

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by Cynthia McCormick. This article originally appeared in the Cape Cod Times.

When Cape snowbird Marie Seufert tells people in her Florida retirement community that she’s a widow, they sometimes ask when her husband died.

“I say, ’No, it was my wife,” said Seufert, 71, who lost Mary Sidlevicz, her spouse of nearly nine years, on Jan. 5, 2017.

“There were people in Florida who kept referring to her as my ‘friend.’ I kept correcting them. It was my No. 1 relationship,” Seufert said.

“I have to come out to people whether I want to or not. I’d rather just play golf,” Seufert said during a phone interview.

Support Group “A Relief”

Seufert said it was.... Read More

             

“Meals on Wheels” – Telemundo Oklahoma

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by Cecilia Hernandez-Cromwell. This video originally aired on Telemundo Oklahoma. The Spanish-language video embedded below includes English subtitles. A full English transcript is included below.

To be independent is something very important for human beings from the moment we begin to walk until we age. Fortunately there are organizations that help people stay longer in the place they call home.

At noon on a recent cold day in Oklahoma City, José de Loera Ruiz was on his way to have lunch with his friend Jerónimo Cazazos, who says, “For seven years friends like him have come to visit me.”

For approximately four years, José has been delivering lunch for Meals on Wheels to people who are homebound because.... Read More

             

Bridging generations, Cherry Creek students act as volunteer “geek squad” for retirement community

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by Meg Wingerter (mwingerter@denverpost.com). This article originally appeared on The Denver Post.

Every Saturday, a sort of “geek squad” sets up shop at a Centennial retirement community to help residents stream, surf and connect.

Unlike professional troubleshooters, however, the members of this tech-support team are supposed to linger to catch up on whatever happened during the week, and they know their repeat customers’ names and stories.

Zachary Wang and Simar Chadha, both seniors at Cherry Creek High School, started Generation Tech in December 2018, after Wang saw a need while volunteering with an adult day program. More than 50 students volunteer on Saturdays at Holly Creek Living, teaching residents to use their devices and hopefully.... Read More

             

Social Isolation and the Holiday Blues for LGBTQ+ Older Adults

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In normative aging, the evolution from adult to older adult often parallels exposure to ageist societal attitudes and behaviors. Seniors are adapting to changing circumstances of bereavement, relocation, and the digital divide of technology. Some are exploring social media to close the gap of connection to family and friends, while adjusting to retirement and smaller social circles. With all these moving pieces, the holidays come and may cast a shadow of isolation and potential loneliness to once vibrant, active and engaged individuals.

The holiday season can bring on holiday blues or ‘winter blues’ for vulnerable populations of older adults and elders. Triggers for social isolation during the holidays included changes in family structure that may result in more significant numbers.... Read More

             
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