Even before the onset of COVID-19, let’s be blunt about this: senior isolation is real. I had wrote about this in Medium.
And COVID-19 made it even worse.
According to an article from PEW Research, Older people are more likely to live alone in the U.S. than elsewhere in the world:
In the U.S., 27% of adults ages 60 and older live alone, compared with 16% of adults in the 130 countries and territories studied.
PEW Research Center – March 10, 2020
Add on top of this stat is another that says “nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated.1 ” ~ Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Definition of Social Isolation
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI):
Social isolation can be defined structurally as the absence of social interactions, contacts, and relationships with family and friends, with neighbors on an individual level, and with “society at large” on a broader level.
Social Isolation Among Older Individuals: The Relationship to Mortality and Morbidity ~ 1990 ~ NCBI
Shortly into COVID, it soon became quite apparent that the social distancing inadvertently made the senior isolation worse. Because we don’t want to get our older folks sick as they’re considered high risk. (High risk because they’re especially susceptible to contracting the virus and have a higher probability from dying from it.)
Speaking via video or through the separation of a door or window or in actual 6-feet distance is a workaround. But the impact on our senior folks is the same. Because the greatest and the most critical thing about being human is being able to touch a person. A kiss on the cheek. A tight bear hug. A satisfying back scratch.
Senior Isolation Begone
As a caregiver to Zen Master and Zen Mum, I’ve the blessing of being on the flip side of this crisis. They live with me and when everything closed down, it was the three of us in the house. And I have a job that allowed me to work from home.
All because of a confluence of circumstances that placed us exactly where we are at the precise moment when COVID hit.
The Social Distancing Block Party
We have elderly neighbors who live alone and don’t have family with them. As the stay-at-home order in the State of PA continued, eventually a handful of them made a decision and decided that video calls were fine but what they craved was the face-to-face interaction with people. And they came up with the Tuesday social distancing party out in the parking lot.
BYOB and BYO folding chair. When it rained one day, they moved their party into someone’s empty carport.
Zen Master, Zen Mum and I didn’t partake because I was pretty heavy-handed with them going out needlessly. But because we had one another, the party didn’t rise as a temptation for us. I sympathize and empathize with our elderly neighbors.
And I count my lucky stars each and every single day.
The Future
According to the news, fake or not, we’re in a recession. Prices for food and milk have gone up. I know this every time I go to the grocery store. Face masks are a state requirement as soon as we step out of the house. The continuing scary rise of infected cases across the US. And no vaccine in sight, despite the optimistic claims from various pharmaceuticals.
I’m at the point that I don’t believe anything until I personally see it come to pass.
The future?
Scary. But at the same time, I don’t dwell on the future like that. Because the unknown is always scary and it can absolutely paralyze us if we let it. Focusing on the here and now is the priority rather than worrying about what could happen in an unwritten future-scape.
Making sure that Zen Master and Zen Mum’s meds are refilled. Cleaning the house as clean as I possibly can every week. Pulling them away from the news and going for walks in the sun whenever I can. Running out for supplies as quick as I can. Having hearty debates with Zen Master on world events. Helping Zen Mum make baked ziti. Making waffles for them for breakfast.
What truly matters is right in front of us. And I’m taking advantage of it every chance I have to appreciate it.
