Challenging Times: Addressing Loneliness in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic presented the world with a quick spreading virus. Most of the United States’ population was sent into a sudden lockdown. Physicians’ offices, libraries, senior centers and community centers immediately closed, and outreach programs in the community for older adults were canceled, some indefinitely. Soon thereafter, most physicians’ offices, libraries, and gyms quickly shifted their appointments, classes and public offerings to an online mode. Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City is a hospital specializing in orthopedic surgery and the treatment of rheumatologic conditions. HSS’s Education Institute (EI) offers numerous in-person lectures, workshops, support groups and exercise classes. Once the pandemic began, in-person programs needed to be canceled and shifted to an online format in order to successfully retain participants. As most of society changed to a virtual mode, many older adults who were resistant to using computers and platforms such as Zoom and Facetime transitioned to these new modalities, often with the encouragement of children and grandchildren, to stay connected to others and to their activities (1). Still, there remains a population that does not use these virtual offerings–a group that does not have the ability to technologically connect (2). They may not own or have access to computers due to lack of finances, lack of interest or feeling that they are unable to learn or master something new and foreign to them. They may not own smartphones, or else not know how to use them (3). They may not have family or friends to teach and encourage them to use these devices. This older adult group consists of people who live alone, have been proudly, voraciously holding on to their independence and, until now, have been able to mostly manage their daily schedules well including shopping for themselves, taking walks, going to libraries, neighborhood institutions or senior centers for exercise and/or meals, and enjoying independent lifestyles. The COVID-19 pandemic dismantled this lifestyle, and suddenly, this older adult group has found themselves faced with their independence threatened. As people were required to rein in their lives and stay physically