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West Valley City Journal

West Valley seniors deal with the obstacles of solitude

Oct 21, 2020 03:07PM ● By Darrell Kirby

Adele King receives a lunch at the Harman Senior Recreation Center in West Valley City. She and other older adults are coping with the various ways COVID-19 restrictions have limited activities and social interaction at the center. (Darrell Kirby/City Journals)

By Darrell Kirby | [email protected]

As if older adults weren’t affected enough by their higher susceptibility to the coronavirus, many are coping with another issue brought on by COVID-19—loneliness and loss of social opportunities.

Several local agencies and facilities serving older adults have restricted or canceled activities and other functions that typically bring the elderly together and give them opportunities for social interaction. While the purpose is to protect seniors, whose age and underlying health issues make them more vulnerable to the virus, the result has been a dearth of contact with the outside world—or least the world beyond their homes or assisted living centers. 

Zenda Rogers, director of West Valley City’s Harman Senior Recreation Center, says the elderly, many of whom are widows or widowers, miss the chance to be around their peers. 

“They’re missing the hugs, they’re missing the handshakes, they’re missing the human contact, and we can’t give them that.” 

Not long after the pandemic arrived in force in March, the senior center canceled its daily schedule and offerings of in-person meals, activities and resources to promote mental and physical health, independence, and an overall better quality of life for elderly clients. 

“We can’t allow them in the building and do socializing,” Rogers said. At least, not until Salt Lake County moves from the yellow risk level (as of September) to green. “Our No. 1 priority is to keep seniors safe.” 

Harman Senior Recreation Center is trying to keep patrons engaged and receiving services—at a distance. Weekday lunches that were provided indoors are now given to seniors as they drive up in their cars. Fifty-five meals a day are handed out. 

On Thursdays, folks can pull up and play “parking lot” bingo, a makeshift version of the game that is usually played inside the building. Rec center staff members announce the numbers over loudspeakers in the parking lot and seniors participate with disposable bingo cards while seated in their vehicles. 

The center also organized a progressive dinner in September to enable seniors to get out and be with each other. Separate groups circulated among four city parks where they partook of a different course of the meal at each park. All at a safe distance, of course. 

For those who can’t make it out, Harman employees and volunteers regularly check in with elderly patrons by phone to see how they are doing. Rogers says her people sometimes have to politely wrap up the phone calls to accomplish other things because the seniors would otherwise talk “for hours.” 

Traditions Assisted Living in West Valley City is home to about 60 residents of varying ages, including non-seniors. The staff at the facility has implemented ways to maintain normal life for residents as much as possible while safeguarding their health. “Bingo is a little more spaced out,” said Nate Porter, regional director of marketing for SAL Management Group, which owns and/or manages Traditions and 19 other assisted living centers in Utah and five other Western states.

In-person visits by family members and friends began to be allowed in September, but in the form of “window visits”—talking by phone through a closed window or plexiglass in a common area. Visitors must wear gowns, masks, and face shields with plenty of social distancing. 

SAL Management even bought tablets for Traditions residents so they can connect with family by video chat. “We’ve found a way for every family to be as involved and have as much contact as they possibly can,” Porter added. 

“Now that it’s becoming unfortunately kind of the new norm, everyone’s been able to adapt to it and adjust,” he said. “Morale’s a lot better than it was at first. Spirits are up and good right now.” 

Back at the Harman Senior Recreation Center, Janice Jeffers drove up in her small SUV to pick up lunch on a Wednesday in September. When asked how she was dealing with being shut in, the 76-year-old whose husband died in August answered cheerfully, “I’m not shut in. I go somewhere every day.” But she still looks forward to joining her peers when activities resume, especially the fitness classes. “I like to work out.”

Glendel Bunker, 83, said just driving over to the center to pick up lunch is something of a break from the solitude. “At least you’re seeing someone,” he said, adding that being home is “mighty tiresome and boring.” 

Octogenarian Adele King is managing to pass the time by exercising four hours a day, in part to rehab from surgery, but longs to reconnect with other rec center regulars. “I miss my friends. We had a fabulous going-on here at the center.” 

In a post on Massachusetts General Hospital’s website, Dr. Matthew Russell, a geriatrician, says that “Loneliness amongst the older population will be a much more insidious cause of casualty than we previously realized." 

Zenda Rogers expressed a similar fear if activities are still curtailed during the upcoming holiday season, a time when some seniors with few loved ones around feel lonelier than usual. She cited one woman who questioned her will to live if and when that occurs. 

"This is where the kindness and the compassion has to happen," Russell states in the web article. "Ask (seniors) the questions that you would not necessarily normally ask, even if they have not prompted you to do so." He suggests inquiring about their appetites, sleep patterns, and moods “to discover red flags,” as well as finding creative ways to connect with them to bridge the physical separation. A few surprise acts of kindness for the elderly may also fill their emptiness. 

At the Harman Senior Recreation Center, Rogers said, “We’re doing everything we can to keep them safe, happy and healthy.”