There’s a lot of focus on the disproportionately high number of older adults who contracted and died of COVID-19. There’s been far less focus on the number of older adults who have remained COVID-free but for whom isolation during the pandemic has taken a large physical toll. Judith Graham reports for Kaiser Health News on older adults who lost their strength during the pandemic; physical therapy can help reverse the toll of isolation.
For many older adults, simple tasks have become a lot harder over the last 15 months. Isolation has had serious effects on their mental and physical health. Getting out of a chair now can be difficult as well as getting into and out of a car. It can be challenging for some older adults who had been totally independent pre-pandemic to care for themselves.
There’s no data yet on the proportion of older adults who have suffered physically and mentally because of the pandemic. But, it’s pretty clear that most of them, like most people more generally, have been less active. Being confined to one’s home necessarily makes it less easy to be active.
And, some medical professionals are reporting increases in falls among older adults as well as worsening health conditions. Overall, the pandemic was not helpful in ensuring people kept healthy diets or exercised. Without exercise, muscles weaken, people lose their strength and stamina, as well as their range of motion; it becomes harder to walk and maintain balance.
Rehabilitative therapy can restore people’s physical functioning in many cases. Medicare will pay for rehabilitation at home when it is available and patients qualify. At the same time, getting up and out as much as possible is well-advised.
Some health plans are finding volunteer peer advocates to keep in touch with isolated older adults. The goal is to motivate them to move, to walk more, to appreciate the benefits of not staying put.
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