The main victims of the virus outbreak are the elderly, who are considered to be at risk • The heavy price they pay: loneliness and distance from their family • Miriam (86): "The distance is hard for me" • Prof. Yuval Pelgi, an expert on aging research: "It's a tragedy - loneliness kills not like Corona, but slowly and patiently "
"We were left alone." Adir Alush and Miriam Dressa
The spreading corona virus can be fatal for older people and the elderly. For that reason, many of them were called to be kept, and the public as a whole was called to distance themselves. This is felt in the entire elderly community, and more so in nursing homes.
Photo: GPO
Nursing homes, which are supervised by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, prohibit visitors from outside, and meetings with family members take place outside the buildings. In cases where the nursing home residents cannot leave, the entry of one first-class family member - subject to the approval of a manager. The Friendship Fund, by the way, has set up a $ 5 million emergency fund to help provide essential assistance to the elderly.
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Miriam Darce (86), a resident of the "Doron parents" nursing home in Kibbutz Osha near Kiryat Ata, described the new situation: "I feel very well, but it is quite alarming and scary. The families do not come to visit. It is very difficult for me but I have to hold back. "I'm very attached to the family, and we're used to seeing you more than once a week. I'm really missing out. We keep our eyes on it and try not to feel it."
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How do you stay in touch?
"Talking on the phone during the day, all family members call. There is simply no other choice. We want everyone's best, do not want to be hurt and damaged. If there are families with whom they are loose, it is time to pick up a phone for the elderly, talk to them, reassure and encourage them."
"The families understood"
Adir Alush is the manager and owner of this nursing home. "It caught us all by surprise," he admits, "The primary goal is to protect tenants because they are a at-risk population. We want to prevent the virus from entering the home, which is a disaster for us. We have reduced unnecessary visits as volunteers and operators, and asked families not to come. There was a great understanding. "
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According to Elush, the team is also enraged: "We came to the point that only the staff comes in and out of the nursing home, and we also asked them to enter into a kind of isolation once they leave and not turn around too much. They understand the situation and give a shoulder. We try to raise morale, maintain a calm atmosphere, increase Employment hours and we hold talks and lectures. On Friday, the Facts organized a day of care and face care for the residents. "
In recent days there have been more and more voices calling for the old citizens.
"This is a tragedy, the old people who are also discriminated against in the light of their age - another blow - the corona," warns Professor Yuval Pelgi, head of the Department of Gerontology of the Faculty of Welfare and Health at the University of Haifa.
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Prof. Pelagi believes that the Corona is radiating the loneliness of the elders: "The grandchildren and children, the ray of light of many of the elders, cannot visit them for fear of infecting them," he illustrates how. "Today's clubs are closing and so is the opportunity for a social gathering, and the informal support network is shrinking. Even foreign therapists, who sometimes use a single thread to connect with a human figure, are at risk."
Even if there are no physical encounters, Pelagi suggests, it is important to care about them.
"Loneliness kills not like the corona, but slowly and patiently, and the great danger of the corona to many of the elders is not the virus but the loneliness," says Pelagi. "Our job as a company," he said, "is to keep the elderly. Pick up a phone, be interested, send an email, and the main thing - don't forget them."