Advice For Seniors Spending The Holiday Alone Due To Pandemic

Many people are spending the holiday alone this year due to the pandemic. This can be especially true for seniors who are away from their families.

Life Senior Services is encouraging seniors to follow CDC guidelines to stay safe.

“I think for many seniors, it isn’t as difficult of a call as it is for younger generations because this generation was around during WWII and the (Great) Depression and the idea of shared sacrifice for greater good is something they were raised on,” Life Senior Services president and chief executive officer Eileen Bradshaw said.

If your celebration allows for being outside or masking up, that can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 for the more vulnerable population.

Life Senior Services said a lot of their seniors are choosing to join their families virtually this year.

“A lot of our seniors have gotten acclimated to Zoom and (Microsoft) Teams and are very savvy and, for some, FaceTime is the easiest way to go,” Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw said some seniors are making Christmas cookies with their kids over FaceTime.

One senior told Life Senior Services Staff that she read “The Night Before Christmas” to her grandchildren virtually on Christmas Eve.

“We sent my mother-in-law tamales because that’s something we’d normally do together,” Bradshaw said. “We are going to enjoy them with her, but we will be states away,” Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw said it's incredibly important to engage with your family this holiday season, so they know they aren't alone.

"There's all kinds of small touches dropping off something on someone's porch, sending a candle a card, just something to know they're not alone and let that phone ring,” Bradshaw said. “Keep in touch.”

Bradshaw said you can always call Life's Senior Line to talk to someone if you are feeling down this holiday season.

“Frequent contact is the enemy of depression,” Bradshaw said. “Isolation is when people get in trouble and it helps if we can just connect with them through the telephone, video chat, cards and notes.”

Life's SeniorLine number is (918)-664-9000.