How can we help prepare our Seaton based elderly and vulnerable? | Coronavirus (COVID-19) 2020



After the recent advice published by the government today where the elderly are NOT YET (at the time of writing this) advised to stay home and isolate (unless they have symptoms) but that this is likely to happen at some point in the future i began to think about how this will effect the mental health of the elderly and vulnerable.

My Nanna, who passed away in August 2019, hated being on her own for long periods of time. Isolation was her biggest fear as i'm sure it is for many elderly and vulnerable, so how can we help them without physically being with them?

1. Regular contact via texting, phone calls, email and skype / video calling. Many elderly are now able to use most tech, but if they are not yet able now is the time to teach them. Take the time to explain to them how to use their phones to communicate. If you can get them skype or a mobile that allows video calling do it now. If they are unable to use video call tech them be sure to call them on the landline as often as possible and spend as much time as you can talking to them, now and if/when they are asked to be in isolation.

2. Prepare them now, make sure your elderly friends and family have everything they will need for possible isolation. I'm not suggesting you panic buy, simply that you ensure they have enough essentials, toiletries and medication to keep them going in the case of looming isolation.

3. Encourage them to take up hobbies or learn new skills that they can do at home. This might be reading books, colouring, puzzles, model making, yoga, home exercise. If you can introduce them to YouTube i'm sure they'll find enough content to keep them occupied for hours!

The above ideas are things that should be encouraged at all times, not just during this Pandemic

I haven't written this post to scare anyone.

I am not an expert in any medical field.

I simply care about the elderly and vulnerable and if my Nanna was still here i would want to do everything i could in preparation to ensure that if/when she is asked to isolate i know she would be OK, that she would know she could contact me anytime she felt lonely and i would make sure i made an extra effort to reach out and communicate with her.

I miss my Nanna so so much. If i can help anyone who has elderly or vulnerable family / friends in the area by delivering to them essentials or things they might need, reach out and ask me. I'm happy to help and i'll do anything i can (ensuring i follow all government guild-lines in terms of hygiene when delivering goods etc) I am also happy to call and talk to any elderly who might just want to communicate, who just want to hear someones voice and have a chat.

Please take care everyone, WASH THOSE HANDS!

Information on the Coronavirus is regularly updated on the following sites:
government site
NHS site. 

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