How To Help Isolated Senior Citizens During the Social Isolation Period

The recent coronavirus outbreak has changed things on a lot of grounds and for a lot of people around us. It has changed entire lifestyles: the way people used to interact with each other including the way families used to interact with each other. The group most threatened in the world are senior citizens who are said to have less resistance against COVID-19 and are urged to stay away from others as much as possible. This means that seeing your mom and dad on a bright sunny day is not an option for now.

It can be very hard for some people to stay away from their elders while coronavirus is being a threat, but one must understand that this is the need of the hour. Aged people have a weak immune system and since they won’t be able to fight against the virus they are the most vulnerable group around. When this was not enough, the disease had one other way to put everybody else in the line of threat, and that is it doesn’t always show symptoms of the disease. Even if you or any member of your family is in good health and feels good, you cannot bring your parents in your home or go out to visit them. Isolated people might suffer from anxiety, depression, physical or mental decline due to lack of care and might suffer from heart diseases. So you can do something creative and do things to keep the elders in your family happy and less lonely and at the same time keep everybody else safe

Schedule a Video Call With Them Every Week

If you can’t be there for them in person, one of the best and most convenient things to do is get on a video call and stay connected. You can use different communication tools like Zoom, Whatsapp, Skype, FaceTime, and many other apps whenever you feel like seeing them or when you miss them and check on them. You can ask your kids to sing them a special song or ask their grandparents to tell them a story so that they might not feel that they are being treated specially. Make them feel that it is another amazing day with their loved ones, just by staying a few miles away.

Send Them a Care Package

Many law enforcement agencies and local authorities have advised people to stock up an ample amount of food and other supplies that can help them stay at home as much as possible and go out less to the stores and expose them to the disease. For older people, it is equally hard for them to go to the stores and buy food and other essentials to get them through this time. Putting together a care package might be something really helpful. These might include items like canned fruits, cereal, soup, some over-the-counter medicine, different useful health, and medical supplies, disinfecting cleaning material and other useful stuff that can last at least for several weeks.

Plan On Watching A Movie Together

You might not be able to watch movies with them by sitting side-by-side at the moment, but still, you can either share a movie with them using a few streaming apps using CenturyLink home internet service and enjoy movies together.

Help Them Stay Organized

It is a good idea that every individual has a plan to protect themselves and their families during this difficult time. In this regard, it is a good idea to look around you and offer help to people, especially your loved ones and get them a plan that they can stick to. Start off by putting together a list of emergency numbers and contacts and keep those contact numbers within your reach. Urge your elderly family to use speed dials or any other thing that can get them to dial in such numbers whenever they need them. These numbers can include contact numbers of authorities or family members if they have symptoms of COVID-19, emergency contact numbers of immediate family members, close friends and people living in the neighborhood, doctors and the health insurance company, local organizations including the Public Health Dept., meal and grocery delivery stores who can deliver at home and many other useful contact numbers.

Conclusion

Helping older people and kids and looking after them in this time of crisis should be your utmost priority because these guys are at a greater risk of getting infected as they have a weak immune system. So follow these instructions and precautionary measures to avoid the spread of the virus in your home and neighborhood. Together we can all help eliminate disease and mitigate the risk of spreading the diseases. At the same time spend more time indoors and practice Social Distancing.