46 THE QUEENS COURIER • health • december 1, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com ▶health Ask the Commissioner: Stopping Social Isolation Q. I feel bad for seniors who have no family or friends. How can I help? A. Thank you for wanting to make a difference. Social isolation affects an estimated one in five older adults, and the holiday s can be an especially difficult time. You can help by checking on older relatives and neighbors, but you can also be alert for changes in their routines. For example, mail piling up outside a door or in a mailbox could be a sign that an older person is sick, incapacitated or worse. In a city of almost 9 million people, New York can be a lonely place. One person providing genuine contact can make a significant difference. Social isolation isn’t inevitable. We know how to fix it, if we can identify it. Additionally, you can volunteer with nonprofits and even senior centers. During this season, senior centers hold parties and other events to bring warmth and cheer to their members, many of whom have no one else to celebrate with. The Department for the Aging’s Volunteer Resource Center is conducting a holiday drive to place volunteers at senior centers through Jan. 15. For more information, call the VRC at 212-602-4464 or email [email protected]. Q. What is the city doing to help socially isolated seniors? A. First lady Chirlane McCray recently launched NYC Well, which provides confidential counseling through online chats, text messages or phone. The number is 888-NYC-WELL. This is a wonderful resource for New Yorkers of all ages, including olders. On an agency level, DFTA is participating in the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging’s “Home for the Holidays” campaign with the AARP Foundation. The goal is to raise awareness and to encourage olders to expand their social circles so they can shield themselves from the poor physical and mental health that accompany social isolation. Additionally, through DFTA-funded casemanagement agencies, olders who are confined to their homes receive vital assessments, which include determining their risk of social isolation. Case managers then work to meet clients’ needs. We are working to expand our friendly visiting service for isolated olders. Our home-delivered meals service provides both food and face-to-face contact with the deliverer to olders who are largely confined to their homes. DFTA funds the delivery of about 4.5 million meals a year. Approximately 30,000 olders visit more than 250 DFTA-funded senior centers daily. A DFTAcommissioned Fordham University study found that socialization – or avoiding isolation – was among the five most common reasons that olders gave for attending a center. We’re here for isolated older New Yorkers. They don’t have to be alone. DONNA CORRADO Dept for the Aging LOSS OF SECURITY AND AGING – Part I (Disaster or Challenge?) To most people, Mrs. R. was a dynamo, a whirlwind and an excellent source of gossip. The tiny old woman was here, there and every where, making everybody’s business her own. Her friends were surprised to find her alone, shuffling about with downcast eyes. Mrs. R., of all people, was depressed. The family and friends of Mr. M. were concerned for another reason. Usually a quiet, reserved individual, he had become loud, restless and argumentative. He was taking offense at little things and, in general, being difficult. People did not know what to expect from him next. These people were both experiencing some of the turbulence that can accompany the passage into and through old age. These external reactions to the turbulence were obvious to all, but the stormy currents that had upset them in the first place were not so clear. This article attempts to understand the problems that often threaten to disrupt the lives of old people. An inconvenience for one person may be a disaster for another. One person may accept a setback such as forced retirement or a hip fracture as a challenge. Another may be completely demor a l ized . The individual who can bear up well against one source of threat or loss may be extremely vulnerable to some other problem, even if “objectively” that other problem does not appear so important to an outsider. An old person’s sense of security can be undermined in many ways. It is not even necessary for anything terrible to happen – yet. The anticipation that one might lose something critical to the sense of basic security can in itself be very disturbing. One person, for example, may be used to having his opinions and wishes determine what happens in the family. Should the day come when people no longer obey – perhaps no longer even listen to his proclamations – then he might feel rather like a deposed monarch. His sense of security is derived from his ability to control or significantly influence the lives around him. This is only one possible source of insecurity. Another individual may be secure in the steady affection and support of one particular individual. Still another might base the rock of security upon financial assets, a bit of money put away for posterity or emergency, knowing that these are financial resources to meet current or future needs. However, everything that contributes to the fabric of daily life also contributes to the basic sense of security. In next month’s article entitled “Loss of Security and Aging, Part II,” I will deal with the relationship between health and emotional security. Physical setbacks that are not necessarily life-threatening in themselves, can lay the foundation for psychological disaster. Look for Part II on the first Thursday in January in the section entitled “Wellness.” Sheldon Ornstein Ed.D, RN Dr. Sheldon Ornstein is a registered professional nurse with a doctoral degree in nursing organization. He has specialized in the care of older adults and has published many articles on the subject. He has done post-graduate work in gerontology and has taught at several universities. In 2013, he was inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame at Teachers College, Columbia University.
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