Feeling the effects of COVID isolation
Beacon of Hope Board President Caryl Regan is a registered nurse with over 15 years experience in home health care. Currently, a nurse educator for Home Instead Senior Care in Cape Coral, she is witnessing first hand the effects of what prolonged isolation is doing to people. Social isolation, she said, already an issue for a number of seniors, has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
“Human beings are social animals,” said Regan. “In my humble opinion, we need socialization as much as we need food and water.”
Regan went on to say that a lack of human interaction often leads to boredom and can impair a person’s overall condition if there is no change or improvement. For a great number of people, technology has been the thread tethering them to human connectedness. Between Zoom meetings, social media, online games and video calling, it’s possible some people don’t feel as though they’ve missed all that much, but for a demographic unfamiliar with the latest technological gadgets, being left out can become a literal health hazard.
Although Home Instead Senior Care has begun to issue Grand Pads (tablets geared toward seniors) to some of its clients to keep them plugged in, Regan said the importance of face-to-face contact should not be ignored.
“Eighty percent of communication is non-verbal,” said Regan. “Even a small shared experience is important … and that’s missing right now. It just doesn’t translate across a computer screen.”
The overwhelming emotional chasm caused by the pandemic, she said, can manifest physically, leaving people not only isolated but also possibly focused on illness. With a world that grows smaller and smaller with little to no societal communication, she said, we’ve lost the stimulation of meeting a friend in a restaurant, seeing other people and a whole host of what were once considered common everyday things.
“It all adds to the richness of our lives … and can be so psychologically rewarding,” said Regan.
The absence of this psychological reward, over time, can be detrimental to an individual’s overall sense of wellbeing. Regan, when teaching home health care, explains that touching clients is an irreplaceable aspect of the job. Whether bathing a client or helping them up out of a chair, she said, you are communicating with them.
For many, to whom tech-gadgets are nothing but a block, Regan said all that’s left is the telephone. Her recommendation is to get creative about getting together while there are still restrictions due to the pandemic.
“You can take the time to knock on a neighbor’s door and offer to water their lawn, if you notice they have been alone,” said Regan. “You can start a small dialogue through the window, so they know they’re not alone. People can begin to tire more easily out of boredom and life can become similar to doing time. Get up, move around and since there’s a lot we can’t do right now, it’s important that we do what we can do to stay connected.”