Managing Anxiety and Mental Well-Being During COVID-19

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When it comes to healthy aging, quite honestly, there’s a lot to do. You’re supposed to make sure to keep your body active and your brain engaged all while maintaining your social connections as well. Sure, the benefits to your overall well-being are worth the effort, but retirement is supposed to be a time with less responsibility on your plate, right? Well, it turns out that in senior living you can have your cake and eat it too, so to speak. Here’s how programs like our Vivid Life make keeping active, engaged, and connected easy and fun! 

Benefits of Healthy Aging 

Good things happen when you focus on healthy aging. In addition to feeling better overall, which in and of itself is a win, other benefits of keeping active, engaged, and connected include:  

  • Improved ability to do everyday things ​ 
  • Reduced impact of illness and chronic disease​ 
  • Enhanced mobility, flexibility, and balance
  • Improved sleep
  • Increased energy level
  • Reduced feelings of depression and stress
  • Increased feelings of happiness and self-confidence
  • Reduced risk of cognitive decline 
  • Increased mental adaptability and cognitive reserve 
  • Improved memory recall and problem-solving skills 
  • Improved concentration and attention to detail  

How Senior Living Can Help 

At home, particularly when living alone, it can be hard to stay as active, engaged, and connected as you’d like. From lack of opportunity to lack of motivation to lack of transportation to mobility challenges, and more, it’s tough, we get it! That’s why we created the Vivid Life program in our senior living communities. It’s composed of three parts: Vibrant Body, Vibrant Brain, and Vibrant Connections. Here’s what each entails:  

Vibrant Body We offer amenities such as a state-of-the-art fitness center, a pool, walking trails, gardening opportunities, and even a dog park to help you stay active. A sample of activities includes:  

  • Walking club – Daily walks at different outdoor locations using pedometers to measure steps. 
  • Yoga – At least once per week for gentle yoga, and once per week for mindful breathing. 
  • Fitness classes – At least two times per week using a variety of hand weights, resistance bands, and circuit-type exercises. 
  • Tai Chi – At least once per week with a live instructor. 
  • Non-traditional exercise – Dancing, gardening, etc. at least two times per week. 
  • Physical games and sports – Golf, putting, bowling, croquet, bocce, and ping pong available daily with organized events one to two times per week. 

Vibrant Brain We offer monthly calendars filled with classes, events, creative arts, and enrichment opportunities to help keep you engaged. A sample of activities includes: 

  • Visiting lecture series – Twice per month with topics such as cultural, historical, local interest, career-oriented, etc. 
  • Creative art series – At least one per week with a theme that runs 3-6 weeks, such as poetry writing, storytelling, painting, digital photography, etc. 
  • Learning series – At least three times per month with an emphasis on learning something new such as foreign language, sign language, technology, hobbies, etc. 
  • Games – At least one time per week and may include poker, bridge, Scrabble, etc. 
  • Mindfulness – A meditation class once per week and gratitude discussion group twice monthly. 
  • Church service – At least once a week through visits by local churches. 
  • Stress reduction – At least once per month class that offers deep breathing exercises, nature walks, music appreciation, spa-type treatments, etc. 

 Vibrant Connections We offer resident-led clubs, social events, outings and volunteer opportunities for any interest to help you stay connected. A sample of activities includes: 

  • Outings – At least twice per month and may include going to concerts, art shows, museum visits, theatre productions, etc. 
  • Intergenerational programming – At least once per month and focuses on building relationships between young adults/children and residents. 
  • New resident welcome party – At least once per month to formally introduce all new residents, and includes ice breakers, social games, etc. to encourage connection. 
  • Philanthropic program – At least once per month provide residents the opportunity to give back to the community, such as volunteering for a local food bank or pet shelter. 
  • Resident-led clubs – May include game clubs, professional clubs, common interests, etc. that meet at least monthly.  

What’s more, it’s all right outside your door (or transportation is provided offsite) and all in a supportive environment with home maintenance, housekeeping, and restaurant-style dining freeing your time to make it even easier to stay active, engaged, and connected. 

Learn more about Vitality Living’s Vivid Life programs. Or find a Vitality Living community near you today to schedule a tour. 

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As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, seniors are asked to continue to stay home and self-isolate. For many, as stay-at-home orders have gone from weeks into months, it’s becoming harder and harder to keep anxiety and worry in check.

In a recent Psychology Today article, “Mental Health in a Time of Pandemic, The psychological effects of an outbreak,” author Sandro Galea M.D. said research into disasters and similar events and their impacts on mental health include effects like “depression, PTSD, and substance use disorders.”

Here are some of the steps we’re taking to reduce anxiety and maintain mental health among our senior living residents and we hope they can help support your wellbeing too!

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Stay active.

Our mission at Vitality Living is to create vibrant communities where residents, families and team members can be themselves, live purposefully and experience a profound sense of belonging. When the pandemic began we quickly put precautions in place based on CDC guidelines – before they were even required in many cases. And just as quickly we realized that all these precautions could easily dismantle the environment we’ve worked so hard to create – if we let it. That’s why, as we implement guidelines and recommendations from the local, state and federal government, our Leadership Team also makes sure we never lose sight of what our communities are all about.

Making physical activity a priority will pay off for a healthy body and a healthy mind. Spending time in nature is especially beneficial because you get fresh air, hopefully a little sunshine, and relief from being indoors. That’s why we’re encouraging residents to spend as much time as possible in our beautiful outdoor spaces and courtyards. You can do the same at home.

It’s important to continue to exercise as well. The National Institute on Aging recommends seniors do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity throughout the week. To break this down, an active senior could exercise approximately 20 minutes per day, seven days per week or 30 minutes per day for five days per week. We encourage a combination of endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility exercises.

You could try brisk walking or jogging for endurance, but while you are out in public, always remember to practice social distancing to protect yourself and others. At home, even yard work or climbing stairs count! For strength, if you have some hand weights around, try arm curls while watching your favorite show or doing pushups while waiting for coffee to brew in the morning. Balance exercises could be as simple as walking heel-to-toe to the mailbox and for flexibility you could try yoga. The YMCA is offering free on-demand yoga videos and a range of other options for seniors.

Our mission at Vitality Living is to create vibrant communities where residents, families and team members can be themselves, live purposefully and experience a profound sense of belonging. When the pandemic began we quickly put precautions in place based on CDC guidelines – before they were even required in many cases. And just as quickly we realized that all these precautions could easily dismantle the environment we’ve worked so hard to create – if we let it. That’s why, as we implement guidelines and recommendations from the local, state and federal government, our Leadership Team also makes sure we never lose sight of what our communities are all about.

Choose news carefully. 

Truthful and unbiased news is a key to understanding the daily realities we face and to maintaining a hopeful and healthful state of mind. News that is scientifically sound and incontrovertible would seem to be the best choice during a pandemic, but there remains a lot of “news” that is neither. Rather than guess, take a look at reputable sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for up-to-date COVID-19 information.

We’re also live-streaming daily COVID-19 updates from executive directors at each Vitality Living community to provide the opportunity for families to ask questions and get updates as they’re announced.

Get news in moderation. 

In a Psychology Today blog titled, “How Much Coronavirus News Should You Watch? How to balance pandemic preparedness and panic,” Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., Ph.D., cites a study during the 2009 Avian Flu outbreak that “found television exposure to be highly correlated with worrying about contracting the disease.[iii]  Specifically, they described this concern as a ‘pandemic of fear,’ which they argue can be spread by a more virulent source than a human carrier—the news media. They note that the resulting pandemic fear precedes an actual pandemic, and requires a separate solution.” In short, Patrick said “The authors note that their findings suggest the more television watched, the higher the level of anxiety about health threats such as H5N1.”

Instead of watching the news, spend time in the kitchen, preparing a favorite dish or dessert; play your favorite music; listen to stand-up comedy routines; watch a movie that you know will lift your spirits; or spend more time with your pet – they’ll love the attention! We’re taking our residents on virtual field trips since we can’t go out. Here are some favorites: San Diego Zoo, the Georgia Aquarium, Yellowstone National Park, the Louvre in Paris, the Great Wall of China – even Mars!

Embrace the positive.

Facing an insidious and almost invisible foe like the coronavirus can make anyone anxious and fearful. But rather than let negative feelings overwhelm us, Benjamin Cheyette has a better idea: People should “collectively reaffirm the central value of ‘Social Vitamin C’.” That is: Courtesy, Consideration, Caring, Community, and Compassion.

In his Healthy Prescriptions blog in Psychology Today titled, “Combating a Mental Health Pandemic, Covid-19 Highlights the Importance of ‘Social Vitamin C,’” Cheyette says the COVID-19 pandemic has put us all on a level playing field because it is “a major ‘psychosocial stressor’ for everyone on Earth at the same time—it thereby increases the prevalence of emotional problems across the board.”

With that in common across humanity, Cheyette notes “The ‘vaccine’ for this aspect of the pandemic is to reaffirm and strengthen the bonds that tie us together.  Now is the time to remember the 400-year-old meditation of John Donne: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” Thus, if we each practice Social Vitamin C with our family, friends and especially strangers, it will help to inoculate the planet with the kind of values we will be proud to share and carry forward.

We’re trying our best to keep residents connected as well with creative ideas like window visits between residents and loved ones; we even provide fun conversation topics and encourage games like window Tic Tac Toe and Show & Share. We’ve also had some family parades which were a huge hit with residents and associates alike with 100s of families participating with signs of love and support. Perhaps your family, friends, and/or neighbors could have some fun like this too!

No matter how you choose to spend your time at home, do your best to keep smiling and remember we are all in this together. The better we treat ourselves and each other, the better off we all will be when the pandemic is over. Stay home, stay safe!

We’re still welcoming new residents to our communities – safely! To learn more, contact us to schedule a virtual tour.

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