We all are now coming to grips with the extent to which nursing home residents and other seniors suffered mentally and physically from the lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic.
Studies that have come out since have found that some residents endured significant weight loss as a result of the change in routine. Also, some seniors experienced increased loneliness and depression spending less time with their loved ones.
While the time period for the lockdown did not last more than a few months for most, such a dramatic health impact makes sense, given the severity of the change. A new study from seniorliving.org illustrates just how significant the drop in visitation was. Two major findings:
• Nationally, visits to nursing homes fell by 53% between March and April. The traffic referred to included staff, vendors and visitors.
• Between April and June, visits to nursing homes rebounded substantially, but visits during the weekend of June 28 were still down 33% compared to March.
We all know that human contact is important. But when you are talking about vulnerable people, i.e., nursing home residents, who rely on human interaction to maintain their quality of life, interacting with loved ones is not a benefit; it is an imperative. As onerous as the pandemic is, cutting off visitation arguably also may be a question of life or death.
No doubt, the federal government has learned a lot from the lockdown and its impacts. And there is a strong argument for a reaction that is less draconian if the virus (or another) flares up again.
Given the ill effects of the lockdown on seniors, a question worth contemplating is: Which is better — dying of an illness or a broken heart?
Follow Senior Editor Liza Berger @LizaBerger19.
