{"id":11562,"date":"2020-04-30T19:44:59","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T19:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=11562"},"modified":"2020-04-30T19:44:59","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T19:44:59","slug":"social-distancing-should-not-equal-social-isolation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=11562","title":{"rendered":"Social distancing should not equal social isolation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Data show that over a prolonged period, the impact of social isolation is as harmful to an individual as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. <\/em><\/strong>Photo: gerald\/Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By ROZ BROWN<\/strong>
Texas News Service<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Research shows too much social isolation has negative effects on people, and the coronavirus pandemic has worsened the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are many tactics to help you cope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social isolation among seniors is common because they live alone after losing a spouse or friend, or have chronic health issues that limit mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Nancy Wilson, an association professor at Baylor College of Medicine, it\u2019s important to regularly assess your own anxiety level in this health crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many folks use social media and phone apps to connect, Wilson says reaching out to someone doesn\u2019t have to be complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of emphasis now on virtual connecting with people, but at the same time, is that a meaningful way?\u201d she questions. \u201cSo, I\u2019ve heard a lot of older adults say, \u2018I just want to have a simple phone conversation.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson says excessive isolation is known to cause early death, from cognitive decline, reduced cardiovascular health, stroke or depression. She recommends \u201caggressive friendship\u201d during this difficult time, and hopes many people will know their neighbors better when it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tina Tran, director of AARP Texas, says nearly 18% of Texans age 50 and over, and one-quarter of those 65 and older live alone and want to be united with the outside world. To that end, she says AARP has created a new service called Community Connections at Connect2Affect.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConnecting volunteers who are willing to be that friendly voice that calls out to people who want to have somebody call them on a weekly basis just to check in, just to see how they\u2019re doing,\u201d she states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson adds that COVID-19 prevents many seniors from attending their regular exercise classes, but it\u2019s still possible to schedule a walking date with a daughter or son, friend or neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd even if you\u2019re just walking up and down \u2014 you go outside and walk up and down the sidewalk, and I always say walk and talk and put the timer on, you know, 10 minutes \u2014 and then maybe you need to rest, and then do 10 minutes more,\u201d she states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas Health and Human Services has launched a 24\/7 statewide mental health support line for those experiencing stress due to the pandemic. It serves both English and Spanish speakers, at 1-833-986-1919.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ROZ BROWNTexas News Service AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Research shows too much social isolation has negative effects on people, and the coronavirus pandemic has worsened the problem. But there are many tactics to help you cope. Social isolation among seniors is common because they live alone after losing a spouse or friend, or have chronic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11563,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11562\/revisions\/11563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}