With pandemic restrictions, many senior communities continue to prohibit visitation, resulting in no face-to-face interaction between residents and their family and friends. These precautions are needed to keep the virus from harming at-risk seniors but can present many challenges to helping seniors stay “socially well.”
In these challenging days of the continued COVID-19 pandemic, senior living and health care facilities that have been hit hard by the virus are searching for new ways to connect residents with the outside world.
Karly Zelaska, wellness director for Lifetime Wellness – a leading provider of whole-person wellness programs for senior living communities – is helping to implement a revolutionary digital health initiative that enables resident connection with families and health providers.
Nearly half of all Americans are reporting significant increases in symptoms of depression stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Seniors are particularly vulnerable to this pandemic-related depression.
As concern over COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to grow, many are scrambling to find supplies and clearing out the shelves of our most critical necessities for prevention.
With the continued spread, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has urged the frequent practice of handwashing with soap and water, and the on-the-go use of hand sanitizer to keep the most vulnerable of us from catching and spreading the virus. Unfortunately, as is the case with most convenience stores, moisturizing hand sanitizer can be difficult to find on the shelves, leaving consumers with fewer options for a quality product.
The feeling of separation – from our families, friends, and communities at large – is a sad outcome of the coronavirus outbreak. This is especially true in senior living facilities, under lockdown throughout the nation.