Can we rise to the occasion and help with crisis of loneliness in nursing homes?

THE ISSUE

“While nursing and personal-care homes follow state Department of Health guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, some experts worry that the isolation resulting from safety measures is taking its toll,” Claire Wolters wrote for a front-page story in Monday’s LNP | LancasterOnline. Depression and/or loneliness can set in for some residents. That, in turn, can potentially lead to other health problems. In response, staff members at these facilities have worked hard to promote socialization and other safe, engaging activities.

It has been a terribly hard, heartbreaking year for those who live and work in nursing homes.

While most of us get some respite from the ebb and flow of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been few breaks since March for seniors who live in nursing homes. There can be no lapses — no letting down one’s guard — because they are among the most vulnerable to serious outcomes from contracting the virus.

As of Monday’s article, 82% of the 440 people in Lancaster County who have died of COVID-19 this year are from nursing and personal-care homes, according to the county coroner.

That’s why strict quarantines and restrictions have been vital. And those measures can hardly be relaxed now, with coronavirus cases surging again across the commonwealth. (At noon Monday, the state Department of Health reported there had been 3,073 new positive cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania over the previous 48 hours.)

Wolters wrote of Betty Rutt, a 92-year-old resident of the Brethren Villages’ Village Manor. She has five children, 13 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren.

“She can call them on the phone, or videochat, or meet them in groups of four, 6 feet apart,” Wolters explained.

But that’s it.

“I can’t hold them; I can’t touch them,” Rutt said. “It’s strange.”

She added: “That’s the hardest thing for all adults this age, if you don’t see your family. Because that’s almost what you live for.”

Sometimes, the person you can’t see or hold is your own spouse. We recall a devastating July letter from Neal Musser, of Quarryville, who was unable to be in a room with his wife, who was in skilled care.

“I have not taken advantage of visiting from the other side of a glass, for I believe I would spend most of my time crying and making her feel worse, if she still recognizes who I am,” Musser wrote. “Many times I do break down as I contemplate what she is going through.”

There are countless stories like these. So full of sorrow and pain.

But a growing worry is how to keep residents safe from the deadly virus — while also addressing their mental and physical health if loneliness sets in.

“Loneliness can exacerbate physical decline if a person lacks the motivation to take medication, or develops anxiety-induced shortness of breath, chest pain or lightheadedness,” Wolters explained, based on an interview with Douglas Ockrymiek, a psychiatrist at Behavioral Healthcare Corp. in Lancaster.

“It’s this balancing act,” added Tara Ober, vice president of communications and resident life at Brethren Village. “We want to keep (our residents) safe; we don’t want them to die of loneliness.”

What’s additionally gut-wrenching is that there’s no clear end in sight regarding the necessary measures to keep those in nursing homes as safe as possible from the virus.

A safe and effective vaccine, widely distributed, is the key to getting back to the lives we knew before March. But its timetable remains uncertain.

Because of that — and the new surge in cases statewide — it’s clear we’re headed toward a somber reality for what the year-end holidays will look like. Family gatherings will not be the same because they likely cannot be complete.

Thinking about it can create a despair that cuts deep, but that’s precisely why we must rise to the challenge of collectively helping to alleviate the loneliness of those in nursing homes.

The keys may be compassion and creativity.

Staff members at nursing homes have for months been doing an extraordinary job addressing these concerns, especially considering all of the daily worries they have in their lives, too.

Some of the socialization measures include small groups of visitors (with masks and social distancing), window visits and increased virtual communications. (ManorCare said nearly 600 iPads were ordered so residents could make video calls.)

We’d love to see (and hear about, in reader letters) communities rising to the occasion for nursing home residents. Parades or performances outside the windows, postcard projects and donations of books and other media could be possibilities to help boost spirits.

“The elderly residents of Lancaster County’s nursing homes built our communities, our institutions, our families,” we wrote in a July editorial, and it’s something we’re not reminded of enough. “They served in this nation’s military. They volunteered at their places of worship, for their children’s extracurricular groups and teams, and for local nonprofits. They baked for baked sales, and staffed the tables at fundraising events.”

Now they need us. Let’s find creative ways to help them through this crisis of loneliness as we approach the holidays. Let’s keep giving them a compassionate boost, until such time as it’s safe for them to receive the family embraces they so long for.

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Crédito: THE LNP | LANCASTERONLINE EDITORIAL BOARD