Prioritizing Emotional Well-Being and Resilience in the Care of Older People
During the course of the pandemic, I kept in touch virtually with my grandmother who lives on her own. She is physically capable of taking care of herself, but the pandemic increased her senses of loneliness and fear being on her own. My grandmother is a very social person, who plays a large role in our community as a music director and supporter of her local church. She has many connections with other adults similar to her in age that she was used to seeing regularly prior to the pandemic. However, when the pandemic began, her church was not allowed to hold in-person sessions and ceremonies. My grandmother endured increased stress as she was not able to perform the same activities that she was able to prior through the church. She was also worried about the possibility of becoming infected with COVID-19, because there was a large stigma at the time that older adults faced the majority of fatalities from the disease. In order to reduce her stress and loneliness, my grandmother did a lot of home and outdoor activities to keep her busy. Some examples of her favorite activities were hiking, reading, arts/crafts, practicing the piano, and daily walks. My grandmother was also not fully alone during this time period. Her significant other lived in a different home, but they did not visit any other friends or family outside of their homes besides each other. Therefore, they would spend some time performing the outdoor activities together.
My new perspective on aging is that connection to the community can be very important for the qualities of their emotional and physical health. Even if they are receiving support from us as healthcare professionals, they are still maintaining a social contact that is there solely for their benefit. What I will take away from this new knowledge is that a holistic view should be seen through all patients regardless of their age or origins. A patient is not just labeled by their illness. For example, if my grandmother were to have gotten ill during the pandemic, she would be primarily seen from healthcare workers as a COVID-19 patient. What they would not be able to assess are the qualities that make her feel human. Our patients will have better quality experiences if we treat them as fellow humans and utilize normal conversations with them. That way, we can learn more about their fears, troubles, and senses of loneliness. Once we are able to assess any underlying emotional complications that the patient is facing, we can let them know that we are present with them and will work with them to benefit the quality of their stay in our care. Therefore, if we treat patients through a holistic view, we can capture their current state of wellness and provide them with the tools to recover quickly through resilience.