In this new reality of social distancing,  feelings of isolation and loneliness have crept their way through the lives of many. However, the impact of the pandemic is felt especially by the elderly. While the internet is a great coping mechanism during COVID-19, seniors cannot always acclimate to this form of entertainment, making their social bubbles smaller and their connections to the outside world weaker.  

     Social distancing is the most potent shield from the virus that is spreading across the globe. However, it has also resulted in an unprecedented and worldwide feeling of solitude, one that is magnified among older groups because of their greater vulnerability to the coronavirus. While most people are slowly finding their way back to their normal lives, like saying a quick “hello” to a friend in person (with a mask) every now and then, elders, who, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, represent eighty out of one-hundred COVID-19 related deaths in the United States, cannot afford this luxury. Thus, for the most part, they continue to maintain a strict distance from others at all times. This means staying away from their loved ones and only interacting with them through video chats or phone calls, which necessitates an attempt to enter the universe of technology, with which they are usually not familiar and struggle to understand. 

    Listbeth Nielsen, Director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute of Aging commented on the effects of this increased solitude. In an interview with ABC News, Nielsen explained, “Many older people are finding that they are cut off from the types of activity that bring meaning or purpose to their life, communal activities, recreational or exercise or just face to-face social interactions that they are used to having.” Even in pre-COVID-19 life, elders in assisted living facilities were prone to the feeling of solitude, as their family members and friends move away and their ability to carry out an active and busy lifestyle decreased, amounting to a withdrawal from society. With the turn of events that 2020 has witnessed, small interactions that used to have great significance for older groups are no longer within easy reach, and now seniors find themselves enclosed within walls, looking out the window and waiting for a call from their loved ones. 

     A nurse who works at The Ludlowe Center For Health & Rehabilitation, a nursing home in Fairfield, Connecticut, states that over the course of quarantine, many seniors grew depressed and no longer had the motivation to eat or be social. She explained, “they used to be up and about, these days they’re stuck watching TV.” Many of them have also lost family members and close friends, most of them in the same age group as themselves, and this only adds to their feelings of loneliness and fear.  Now, the Fairfield nursing home works alongside social workers who will follow up with the patients and provide this fragile group with the reassurance they need in uncertain times. The workers strive to nurture the patients’ mental health by keeping the seniors in a routine that they can feel comfortable with and approaching them with an easy to understand vocabulary and words of solace that will help them to understand that social distancing measures are taken to keep them safe. 

    At the beginning of the pandemic, America was surrounded by headlines and words echoing the popular sentiment that “COVID only kills older people,” which is false. This early messaging could have prompted elders to feel as if they were the only ones on the receiving end of a possible death sentence. The constant and unsettling numbers of elders included in the coronavirus death toll shaped the way that the aging population reacted to the pandemic. It built them into a target and created a cloud of apprehension in the community as to whether they could pull through the severe symptoms of COVID-19 or not, imperiling their mental health.

     Thus far, the coronavirus has had calamitous effects on the emotional state of the older population. However, within this crisis lies an opportunity for the younger generations to be kind to their elders. By helping them to become familiarized with digital technologies, reminding them that the storm will pass, and acknowledging their particular vulnerability in this situation, the youth can raise a wave of positivity in the face of these trying times.