Michigan’s senior citizens miss grandchildren’s hugs, feel isolated during coronavirus pandemic

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – With 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, Beverly Artlip knows what she’s lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

A grandson’s birthday. Family dinners. Hugs from the little ones.

As a senior citizen in this COVID-19 era, Artlip, 82, is among those in the most vulnerable population. Alone, self-isolating, she stays in her apartment at a Grand Rapids-area retirement village. She can’t even visit with friends who live there.

“Suddenly, you realize how much things meant to you,” she said. “I just can’t wait for it to be over and get back to a normal life, no matter what normal is.”

The isolation, constant worrying and missing family interaction hit Michigan’s older residents hard when the coronavirus took hold in the state two months ago. For senior citizens, part of the ongoing concern is not knowing when it will end.

When the state’s economy opens, Artlip and other seniors will still be in the group most vulnerable to severe reactions to the virus until there is a vaccine or cure. Residents 70 and older account for 69 percent of Michigan’s 5,334 coronavirus deaths, according to state data released Wednesday, May 27.

Some seniors will likely go out once more restrictions are lifted in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders and it feels safe. For others, waiting for a vaccine or cure could be their new reality.

“This population is going to be vulnerable until science catches up with it,” Lisa Grodsky, who works with seniors on the east side of Michigan, told MLive.

Dr. Brenda Whitehead, an associate professor of psychology at University of Michigan–Dearborn, is conducting a survey of senior citizens during the coronavirus crisis.

She is still processing data but noted some trends in older adults:

• Stress goes up when daily case counts rise and lowers when numbers decrease.

• They’re most stressed by isolation or loneliness, uncertainty about the future, concerns for others and concerns about having to go grocery shopping.

• They are comforted by interaction with others, whether in-person or online.

• There are mental-health benefits to exercise and nature.

• They are worried about the future for their children and grandchildren.

The pandemic has robbed many of their ability to hold others, including hugging grandchildren, Whitehead said.

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“There is research that has shown touch deprivation -- a common occurrence for older adults even before COVID due to widowhood, living alone, and/or nursing home isolation -- has negative effects on older adults’ physical and mental health,” Whitehead said, in an email exchange.

“In the context of COVID, older adults used to frequent contact with loved ones and grandchildren suddenly find themselves without those hugs and cuddles (a situation which is not likely to change anytime soon), and the risk for mental health challenges and even physical health decline has likely risen substantially.”

Robert Barnes, president of Senior Neighbors, a non-profit organization that works with over 4,000 older adults in Kent County, said it is important seniors do not feel alone.

Many seniors are “very anxious and saddened by this whole thing,” he said. Workers conduct “wellness calls” to make sure seniors are doing OK.

His agency has five senior centers. He suspects that senior centers will be among the last to re-open with seniors “being at the high end of the risk scale.”

Kent County’s Care Resources PACE (Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly) provides seniors with rides to the center, daily activities and medical treatment. With the center closed, Sue Pence, who works in transportation, and others have been making “happy calls” to seniors in the program.

She said that seniors are very appreciative. It might just be a phone call, but it means a lot. They know someone cares.

“They just want somebody to talk to. They say, ‘I’m bored.’”

As she walks through her Ann Arbor neighborhood, Elizabeth Nelson makes a point of stopping to talk to older neighbors – at a safe distance. She has also made video recordings of those conversations.

She is struck by the number of older people living alone and the social activities they have lost.

At Ann Arbor Thrift Shop, a local institution, Nelson usually volunteers with many seniors. The store provides affordable goods for families and inexpensive prices for bargain hunters.

Seniors find the work fulfilling. But the store has yet to open this spring.

Nelson, who’s on the Ann Arbor City Council, found isolation to be a “powerful issue” for older folks.

She worries about an older neighbor, living alone, without access to technology, like video conferencing via Zoom.

Nelson said she does not know when older people can feel safe going places. They are going to need help if they have to stay home indefinitely.

“It’s worrying. We have a lot of old people in Ann Arbor.”

As she nears 80, Abby Bauland of Ann Arbor considers herself fortunate. Isolation, she said, is a “nuisance” compared to what others have faced. And, she has no intention of staying locked down indefinitely.

She does her own grocery shopping. She wears a mask and keeps her distance.

She talks to friends on the sidewalk or sits with them in the driveway or her deck, “as long as I know they are being careful and know they’re healthy,” she said.

She doesn’t feel overly vulnerable. She says she’s “very healthy.”

Bauland will not be isolating forever. She has twice delayed travel plans, which is difficult because her children and grandchildren live elsewhere. She stays in contact with her family on the internet.

She could not imagine having to isolate without the internet. She used to go to the gym every day. Now, she live-streams exercise programs.

“I have no doubt that people whose lives are totally upended are suffering horribly,” Bauland said. “I’m very fortunate I’m not in that situation.”

She is particularly concerned about children and the interruption of their education.

Southfield resident Esther McLaughlin, raising her 7-year-old grandson, has concerns of her own. She’s in good health but has a breathing condition. She’s considering not sending her grandson back to Royal Oak schools in the fall. He could bring the virus home.

She’s afraid what would happen to her grandson if she died.

“The kids are afraid of you dying. They hear all this stuff. Little kids certainly do (fear a parent or grandparent’s death). Especially if you are a senior and you have health issues and the grandchild has seen you get sick.”

She doubts children can be kept apart at school. Social interaction is important.

“How can I send my kid to school? It’s like a – it’s insurmountable. You can’t figure out what to do.”

She has kept her grandson from other children this summer. He has a soccer net in the backyard and rides his bike with his grandparents. They go on nature hikes, too.

“You just have to be extremely careful about everything,” McLaughlin said.

Lisa Grodsky is coordinator of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, funded by the Area Agency on Aging 1-B in Macomb, Oakland and Livingston counties. She said that some grandparents are already identifying others who could care for their grandchildren if they die. Three in the support group have lost loved ones to COVID-19, she said.

“It has seriously affected people in Southeast Michigan and grandparents raising grandchildren in the area,” she said.

Jim McGuire, a director for Area Agency on Aging 1-B, said the specter of the coronavirus is difficult for seniors and others.

“It’s so open-ended. I don’t know if Dr. Fauci knows when it’s going to be safe for anybody,” he said, referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“Does it end at the end of June? Does it continue this September?”

McGuire said many seniors rely on senior centers for daily activities. The centers are already brainstorming how to open touchless facilities, with automated doors, faucets and toilets and social distancing.

Whitehead, the U-M professor, said her work on the senior survey continues. It has not yet been peer-reviewed.

She noted that seniors’ emotions are tied to the ups and downs of the virus’ spread.

“Practically speaking, this means that older adults are most vulnerable to mental health distress on the upswing of a pandemic curve; should something like this happen again, knowing this can prepare professionals and loved ones to ensure they take extra care to reach out and support older adults during this period of a pandemic event.”

She said that the survey also showed that family can help prevent isolation. A neighbor who does the grocery shopping for an older neighbor can relieve that stress, too.

Faith and religious belief also “provides an avenue to inner calm even when the outside world is out of our control,” Whitehead said.

She noted that despite their concerns, older adults are confident that society will, eventually, be OK.

Artlip, the Grand Rapids-area woman, is too. Weary of the lockdown, she said: “This, too, shall pass.”

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

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‘Social zones’ to expand outdoor bar, restaurant service in Grand Rapids

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