Research Paper
Having an elderly person talk about their lives has many benefits. Some include preserving family history, helps improve their quality of life, reduces symptoms of depression, and works through unresolved conflicts. (Cemental, 2019) “People tend to forget that the seniors in their family used to live young, full lives. Seniors who recount past experiences can pass on valuable memories for future generations. Plus, reminiscing about days gone by can bring families closer together. Many family members have shared memories from their family history.(Cemental, 2019)” I will be talking about Reminisce Therapy, the effects of social isolation on the elderly, and what can be done to help.
There is a term for having the elderly talk about their past to benefit their cognition and mood, It is called Reminisce Therapy. Reminisce therapy is "a treatment that uses all the senses; sight, touch, taste, smell and sound to help the elderly remember events, people and places from their past lives.”(Elder Care Alliance, 2017). This method is commonly used on people who suffer from Dementia or Alzheimer's. This method of therapy will help even more for the elderly without these diseases, allowing them to access memories they have so deep back in their brains. This level of communication has also been proven to help with preventing medical errors, a lead to improve health, and makes the most of limited interaction time, especially because of COVID-19 (Kimone, 2020).
“Social isolation and loneliness are major risk factors that have been linked with poor physical and mental health status”, (Wu, 2020). When the elderly are away from their loved ones, and people who they enjoy having daily conversations with can be very difficult to deal with, because as an elderly person in an elderly home, there isn’t much to look forward to, and for the things they do look forward to to be taken away from them has to be mentally difficult.
The elderly are being isolated without choice, and my Capstone could help with this loneliness they could be feeling. Video calling the elderly and talking to them about better times in their lives could help by making them feel like they’re not trapped in one place, so I’d ask them a question, such as “tell me about something that was around when you grew up that people of my generation wouldn’t believe because they didn't get to experience it.”
About 28 percent of older adults in the United States, or 13.8 million people, live alone, “According to a report by the Administration for Community Living’s Administration on Aging of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but many of them are not lonely or socially isolated. At the same time, some people feel lonely despite being surrounded by family and friends.(Brooks, 2020)” Due to COVID, these people have become more socially isolated, and this is due to quarantining, the social distancing act of 6 feet, and for older people, their immune systems are more weak, meaning there is probably a bigger chance at fatality due to the virus being a respiratory attack.
Research has linked social isolation and loneliness to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions: high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and even death (Brooks, 2020). Cognitive decline is something all people experience as they grow older, whether it goes from forgetting to grab your mask when leaving the house, to forgetting your own name , both can be signs of cognitive decline, just clearly at different levels of severity.
People who feel lonely may also have weakened immune cells that have trouble fighting off viruses, which makes them more vulnerable to some infectious diseases, he added (Brooks, 2020). Not only does getting older affect your immune system, but if you are feeling lonely, that can also weaken your immune system, so that means that socially-isolated elderly people are the most vulnerable to this virus.
Social isolation significantly increased a person’s risk of premature death from all causes, a risk that may rival those of smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity. Social isolation was associated with about a 50% percent increased risk of dementia. Poor social relationships (characterized by social isolation or loneliness) was associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke. Loneliness was associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Loneliness among heart failure patients was associated with a nearly 4 times increased risk of death, 68% increased risk of hospitalization, and 57% increased risk of emergency department visits (Nash, 2020).
Nearly all adults aged 50 or older interact with the health care system in some way. For those without social connections, a doctor’s appointment or visit from a home health nurse may be one of the few face-to-face encounters they have. This represents a unique opportunity for clinicians to identify people at risk for loneliness or social isolation (Nash, 2020).
78% of COVID-19 related deaths in the U.S. occurred among older adults age 65 and over . Older adults are the segment of the population most vulnerable in this pandemic, largely due to their weaker immune systems and higher likelihood of having a chronic condition such as heart disease, diabetes, lung disease and cancer. Having any of these conditions is a risk factor for suffering complications from COVID-19.
For nursing home residents, family visits are an important way for them to feel socially connected, and family members are their link to the outside world. However, due to the lockdown policy, all these services and programs are no longer available. These restrictions would certainly increase social isolation and the feelings of loneliness of older adults. In the context of COVID-19, social isolation may be especially detrimental to family caregivers being that the majority are older adults themselves and are already at increased risk of stress, anxiety and depression (Brooks, 2020).This is why I want to reach out to the elderly in my Capstone, to still give them a way of feeling less lonely and important to the world, because they have given us so much, why not give back to them ?
The elderly people at this time are at what can be widely considered their most helpless point in time. COVID makes their weakened immune systems a liability, so we have to keep these people as safe as possible, because a common characteristic of COVID-19 is to attack weakened immune systems, especially the weakened respiratory system. Most elderly people at nursing and retirement homes are being completely socially isolated, even from their own families. This is causing a feeling of loneliness, which can lead to depression and cognitive decline, both being very unhealthy, especially for the elderly.
.
References
Cemental, R. (2019, August 30). 9 Reasons Why Reminiscing Can Benefit Seniors. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://www.caringseniorservice.com/blog/9-reasons-why-reminiscing-can-benefit-seniors
Elder Care Alliance. (2017, October 27). Elder Care Alliance. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://eldercarealliance.org/blog/benefits-reminiscence-therapy/
Kimone, T. (2020). Tips for Improving Communication with Older Patients. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/tips-improving-communication-older-patients
Wu, B. (2020, March 15). Social isolation and loneliness among older adults in the context of COVID-19: A global challenge. Retrieved November 05, 2020, from https://ghrp.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41256-020-00154-3
Brooks, D. (2020). Social isolation, loneliness in older people pose health risks. Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/social-isolation-loneliness-older-people-pose-health-risks
Nash, B. (2020, November 04). Loneliness and Social Isolation Linked to Serious Health Conditions. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/lonely-older-adults.html
There is a term for having the elderly talk about their past to benefit their cognition and mood, It is called Reminisce Therapy. Reminisce therapy is "a treatment that uses all the senses; sight, touch, taste, smell and sound to help the elderly remember events, people and places from their past lives.”(Elder Care Alliance, 2017). This method is commonly used on people who suffer from Dementia or Alzheimer's. This method of therapy will help even more for the elderly without these diseases, allowing them to access memories they have so deep back in their brains. This level of communication has also been proven to help with preventing medical errors, a lead to improve health, and makes the most of limited interaction time, especially because of COVID-19 (Kimone, 2020).
“Social isolation and loneliness are major risk factors that have been linked with poor physical and mental health status”, (Wu, 2020). When the elderly are away from their loved ones, and people who they enjoy having daily conversations with can be very difficult to deal with, because as an elderly person in an elderly home, there isn’t much to look forward to, and for the things they do look forward to to be taken away from them has to be mentally difficult.
The elderly are being isolated without choice, and my Capstone could help with this loneliness they could be feeling. Video calling the elderly and talking to them about better times in their lives could help by making them feel like they’re not trapped in one place, so I’d ask them a question, such as “tell me about something that was around when you grew up that people of my generation wouldn’t believe because they didn't get to experience it.”
About 28 percent of older adults in the United States, or 13.8 million people, live alone, “According to a report by the Administration for Community Living’s Administration on Aging of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but many of them are not lonely or socially isolated. At the same time, some people feel lonely despite being surrounded by family and friends.(Brooks, 2020)” Due to COVID, these people have become more socially isolated, and this is due to quarantining, the social distancing act of 6 feet, and for older people, their immune systems are more weak, meaning there is probably a bigger chance at fatality due to the virus being a respiratory attack.
Research has linked social isolation and loneliness to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions: high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and even death (Brooks, 2020). Cognitive decline is something all people experience as they grow older, whether it goes from forgetting to grab your mask when leaving the house, to forgetting your own name , both can be signs of cognitive decline, just clearly at different levels of severity.
People who feel lonely may also have weakened immune cells that have trouble fighting off viruses, which makes them more vulnerable to some infectious diseases, he added (Brooks, 2020). Not only does getting older affect your immune system, but if you are feeling lonely, that can also weaken your immune system, so that means that socially-isolated elderly people are the most vulnerable to this virus.
Social isolation significantly increased a person’s risk of premature death from all causes, a risk that may rival those of smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity. Social isolation was associated with about a 50% percent increased risk of dementia. Poor social relationships (characterized by social isolation or loneliness) was associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke. Loneliness was associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Loneliness among heart failure patients was associated with a nearly 4 times increased risk of death, 68% increased risk of hospitalization, and 57% increased risk of emergency department visits (Nash, 2020).
Nearly all adults aged 50 or older interact with the health care system in some way. For those without social connections, a doctor’s appointment or visit from a home health nurse may be one of the few face-to-face encounters they have. This represents a unique opportunity for clinicians to identify people at risk for loneliness or social isolation (Nash, 2020).
78% of COVID-19 related deaths in the U.S. occurred among older adults age 65 and over . Older adults are the segment of the population most vulnerable in this pandemic, largely due to their weaker immune systems and higher likelihood of having a chronic condition such as heart disease, diabetes, lung disease and cancer. Having any of these conditions is a risk factor for suffering complications from COVID-19.
For nursing home residents, family visits are an important way for them to feel socially connected, and family members are their link to the outside world. However, due to the lockdown policy, all these services and programs are no longer available. These restrictions would certainly increase social isolation and the feelings of loneliness of older adults. In the context of COVID-19, social isolation may be especially detrimental to family caregivers being that the majority are older adults themselves and are already at increased risk of stress, anxiety and depression (Brooks, 2020).This is why I want to reach out to the elderly in my Capstone, to still give them a way of feeling less lonely and important to the world, because they have given us so much, why not give back to them ?
The elderly people at this time are at what can be widely considered their most helpless point in time. COVID makes their weakened immune systems a liability, so we have to keep these people as safe as possible, because a common characteristic of COVID-19 is to attack weakened immune systems, especially the weakened respiratory system. Most elderly people at nursing and retirement homes are being completely socially isolated, even from their own families. This is causing a feeling of loneliness, which can lead to depression and cognitive decline, both being very unhealthy, especially for the elderly.
.
References
Cemental, R. (2019, August 30). 9 Reasons Why Reminiscing Can Benefit Seniors. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://www.caringseniorservice.com/blog/9-reasons-why-reminiscing-can-benefit-seniors
Elder Care Alliance. (2017, October 27). Elder Care Alliance. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://eldercarealliance.org/blog/benefits-reminiscence-therapy/
Kimone, T. (2020). Tips for Improving Communication with Older Patients. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/tips-improving-communication-older-patients
Wu, B. (2020, March 15). Social isolation and loneliness among older adults in the context of COVID-19: A global challenge. Retrieved November 05, 2020, from https://ghrp.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41256-020-00154-3
Brooks, D. (2020). Social isolation, loneliness in older people pose health risks. Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/social-isolation-loneliness-older-people-pose-health-risks
Nash, B. (2020, November 04). Loneliness and Social Isolation Linked to Serious Health Conditions. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/lonely-older-adults.html
Paragraph connecting field work to research
My Capstone project directly correlates with my research because as you know, my Capstone was based around having elderly people talk about their past and childhood as a way of reminisce therapy, a way to slow cognitive decline and depression. When I had these chats with the elderly people I chose to talk to during this project and process, not only could I see a shift in tone and mood, but so did their husbands and wives. For an example, after I talked to Joanie, I reached out to her husband later on, and he the proceeded to tell me himself that she’s been better, she’s more active, she even took their old record player out of the basement and played the song from their wedding, which he said she hasn’t done in almost 30 years. To know that just having a simple conversation with someone of that age group about their past can boost their mood in such a positive way makes you feel whole inside, and that’s why I enjoyed every second of this specific project I took on.