Introduction
COVID-19 affected and transformed every person’s life during the past years. Humanity is still in the phase of fighting for their lives because coronavirus mutates, taking various forms. Face masks, isolation, and quarantine with no end in sight are the new reality for people around the globe. However, older people are more likely to be infected by the virus and hospitalized. The issue of isolation and loneliness that older adults experience is profound. They were encouraged to self-isolate by the government, as long as they warned other strata of society to restrict their contact with elders. Starting from the twentieth of March 2020, only essential workers could do their job, and everyone else was encouraged to stay home. The limit for social gatherings, like church services, started from ten people; then, more people were allowed with time. All the changings affected older people’s mental and public health life. The isolation should not be equal to loneliness and mental health issues.
Loneliness and Isolation Difference
The beginning of the coronavirus pandemic became a point of no return for people aged sixty and older. Despite different answers, it is essential to note that every older adult lost their autonomy after COVID-19 started. They lost their ability to choose what their life would be and even their everyday habits and capabilities. Some participants whose ages reached almost ninety years old stated that they lost some things they got pleasure out of, even though “they do not expect them to last much longer” (Herron et al., 2021, p. 7). However, that issue did not bother every participant equally, some of them were ready for isolation because of their childhood on a farm, and one participant stated that he enjoyed isolation. That means that the coronavirus quarantine did not affect his everyday life drastically. At the same time, most of the participants connected with their families and friends remotely, some of them managed to visit their friends following all the rules and even had dinners with guests outside. All this information leads to an understanding that there is a difference between isolation and loneliness.
Older people need care and communication in order to be happy, as well as everybody in the world. Profound analysis of their needs can make them feel less lonely. Most of the participants had their condition improved on the second interview, which means that communication can be reached if desired, even if it is harder to achieve because of the circumstances. At the same time, some people crave community but do not have a church to go to or other activities to do. Other people are limited in their mobility because of age, which makes them stuck in their homes even without coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Some elders suffer from diseases that can cause memory loss or even be deadly. That makes their partners lonely even without isolation because many elders at least have their wives or husbands to accompany them through restrictions. To not feel lonely during any period of time, it can be recommended to use alternative ways of socializing, including social media, phone calls, or even handwritten letters. They can also stay physically active and do hobbies to flex their minds.
Group and Person-centered Interventions
It is important to say that person-centered and group interventions are both needed in one way or another. Older adults need communication to keep their mental and public health fine. Depression and anxiety are common at different ages and were noticed during the investigation. One of the participants named, Evelyn, was diagnosed with depression during the beginning of the pandemic because she carried her husband with dementia. The research team helped her with a program that “connects older adults with one another for a regular telephone conversation” (Herron et al., 2021, p. 8). That helped her feel less lonely, as she stated during the second interview. I would use programs like this to help patients who lack regular communication and cannot have it at home. To feel connected to the group, some people need to remind themselves of their old occupations like church gatherings. Communities like churches create strong connections between people and usually have events in the middle of the week. In the future, I would recommend people find themselves a community to join. Regular phone calls with family members can make people less isolated.
At the same time, person-centered interventions can help older adults feel busy and active. Manjunas, Manoj, and Alchaalabi’s work mentioned that “person-centered interventions were found to be the most beneficial, especially when carried out for long periods of time” (2021, p. 3). This type of intervention affects every situation older adults’ are in and their whole lives. Things like sports, music, dancing and all kinds of hobbies help them strengthen their body and brain and usually provide contact with other people their age. I would recommend older adults with loneliness problems guide their time to physical and mental training. Even physical activity like walking can help older people feel less lonely, see other people, and maybe even have a little chat with someone.
Conclusion
The coronavirus pandemic is an appearance no one expected to see. However, everyone manages to deal with it in their unique circumstances. Regardless of psychological condition and if the person is an introvert or extrovert, isolation can become an issue for people who felt lonely before the pandemic or make people live another way. Even though the world is changed and will stay the same for an extended period of time, the medical industry needs to adjust for the better. Most of the time, older adults need care and a view from the outside to change their lives.
References
Herron, R. V., Newall, N. E. G., Lawrence, B. C., Ramsey, D., Waddell, C. M. & Dauphinais, J. (2021). Conversations in Times of Isolation: Exploring Rural-Dwelling Older Adults’ Experiences of Isolation and Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Manitoba, Canada. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(3028), 1-14.
Manjunas, J., Manoj, N. & Alchalabi, T. (2021). Interventions against Social Isolation of Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Existing Literature and Interventions. Geriatrics (Basel), 6(3), 3-4.