“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write,
but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
-Alvin Toffler
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Global Health NOW: Is Isolation Killing the Elderly?
GHN News
Jeanne
Fregeau, 93, in her room at a Marlborough, Mass. nursing home.
August 26, 2020.
Image: Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe/Getty
Is Isolation
Killing the Elderly?
“Sometimes the doors to their rooms are open, and you just see someone
sitting in a chair with tears running down their face,” said
geriatrician Louise Aronson of University of California, San
Francisco.
For elderly people, COVID-19 restrictions designed to protect them may
also be leading to deadly isolation. The data may be scarce, but the
reality is tangible; researchers say it can include:
accelerated aging and
dementia
more falls
“sudden frailty”
weight loss
depression
Deprived of his children’s weekly visits to his long-term care facility
in Minnesota, 98-year-old Chester Peske passed away in June. The
cause of death was listed as “social isolation / failure to thrive
related to COVID-19 restrictions.”
The Quote: “In many respects, the side effects
are worse than the potential harm of a slightly higher risk of
infection,” said David Grabowski, a Harvard Medical School health policy
professor.
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