Social Distancing Yes, but No Social Isolation for Dementia

The Covid-19 virus and social distancing present special challenges to aging adults living with Alzheimer’s Disease or other types of dementia, and their families. Their need for engaging social contact, love, and a sense of security is more important now than ever before. The most important steps to minimizing the feeling of isolation is staying in touch, being calm and reaffirming you are there and love them.

​We headlined this message ‘Social Distancing Yes for Alzheimer’s, but Social Isolation No’ for a good reason. We cannot afford to ignore the need to maintain safe distances. However, as care management consultants we have found we can minimize the impacts of Covid-19 and social distancing on health and well-being by: 

1. Engaging your loved one as much as possible with activities. If you cannot be with your loved one you can participate in virtual activities with family, friends, or an activity specialist. If you do not have access to technology, you can send activity kits the caregivers can use with your loved one.
2. Managing your loved one’s physical and psychological health. Partner with health care providers or have your care manager work with the care providers to ensure medical issues are managed and monitored, enough medication is at hand, and to attend medical appointments virtually to optimize health and well-being.
3. Providing opportunities for exercise and movement to calm, fight depression and anxiety and prevent mobility issues related to lack of movement.

We are in this together, rowing our small boat through choppy seas. To support our clients and their loved ones during this time of social isolation we are continuing to provide our normal services as an essential service provider. Our goal is to help our clients and our community navigate through these seas as smoothly as possible with strategies and tools to keep our aging adults safe, happy, and healthy.

To accomplish this, we have started virtual care management, family support, health management and physical therapy exercise programs.

To help our client’s keep engage with families and improve their quality of life we have also started our Life Enrichment Therapeutic Activity program.