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Coronavirus Disease

Supportive Services for Senior Living Communities during the COVID-19 Crisis

Like other pandemics and emerging disease outbreaks, COVID-19 is creating immense psychosocial disturbances. The disease involves an unfamiliar threat that is difficult to detect, continues to spread with an uncertain timeline, and preys on vulnerable persons- particularly our older adult population. Things will get worse before they get better, which means that fear, anxiety, feelings of helplessness and the sense that our world is ‘out of control’ will continue for the foreseeable future. Our only weapon to prevent infections is the social isolation in which we are engaging, which dramatically upsets everyday routines, activities that normally help us to cope, and the social connections that are so vital to our mental health.

For people with preexisting mental health conditions, a pandemic can further heighten their anxious thoughts, compulsive behaviors and disturbance of mood. Previously managed symptoms can flare up, requiring additional care beyond what was helpful before the crisis. People who are elderly and people with disabilities are asked to stay out of public and receive fewer visitors, fueling the loneliness and isolation so many already feel. It is well-documented that loneliness and isolation can lead to depression, and as well as decline in physical and cognitive health.

At Senior Living Behavioral Health, we are providing residents, family and staff with the support and tools they need during this unprecedented crisis.

For Residents

Our Clinical Social work staff are conducting video telehealth therapy sessions for residents to:

  • Normalize stress reactions as something that all are experiencing 
  • Remind residents that while there is uncertainty about the time-frame of having to cope with the pandemic, it will in fact end
  • Teach basic cognitive-behavioral techniques to reduce stress reactions, such as deep breathing and meditation
  • Explore what activities the resident can still engage in and encourage
  • Support and suggest any creative ways of maintaining connections with family and friendsvi

For Family

Our Clinical Social work staff are conducting video telehealth sessions for residents to:

  • Normalize stress reactions as something that all are experiencing 
  • Remind residents that while there is uncertainty about the time-frame of having to cope with the pandemic, it will in fact end
  • Teach basic cognitive-behavioral techniques to reduce stress reactions, such as deep breathing and meditation
  • Explore what activities the resident can still engage in and encourage
  • Support and suggest any creative ways of maintaining connections with family and friends

For Staff

Our clinicians will provide: 

  • Individual consultations to provide emotional support and coping tips
  • Small group staff meetings via video conference to encourage staff ability to support each other, and to teach stress-reduction techniques
  • Provide a hotline that any staff can call anonymously to request emotional support, stress-reduction techniques, etc.

At Senior Living Behavioral Health, we are here for your community in any and every way that we can be of help to your residents, family-members and staff as we all work together to effectively manage the challenges of the day. 

WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS TOGETHER!

For more information, contact:

Evan A. Kaplan
(516) 387-2375
Fax: (855) 696-3602
ekaplan@seniorlivingbehavioralhealth.com
www.seniorlivingbehavioralhealth.com  

SENIOR LIVING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH LCSW, PLLC provides outstanding behavioral health services to individuals in senior living communities that may be encountering social, psychological or behavioral challenges. We embody a collaborative method that seeks to guarantee maximum integration of our expertise into a well-matched and extensive system of health care, commensurate with the rules and processes of the host community. Our therapists are licensed clinical social workers with the highest level of competence and integrity for whom we facilitate continued professional development to ensure ongoing state-of-the-art therapy services to the residents in our partner senior living communities.

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2023 Senior Living Behavioral Health LCSW, PLLC.®