REACHING OUT KEEPING AN EYE ON OLDER ADULTS IN THE COMMUNITY
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BY SHAWN RYAN
the Greater Chattanooga Area Food Bank. Students and faculty from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga pitched in, including the School of Nursing, music therapy and social work programs. COVID testing was part of the effort, taking place in public housing communities, senior living facilities and other neighborhoods where older adults congregate, Wick says. More than 500 were tested and, surprisingly, all tests came back negative, she adds. Lack of human contact is an ongoing and critical need for those who are homebound, she says, and it may be the toughest one to address. “We knew we could meet the basic needs, but the isolation piece is the one that we worry about the most,” she explains. “People just give up. They’re “Resources for COVID had to be diverted to the lonely. They haven’t seen their family. They’ve seen tornado, which is understandable,” says Dr. Kristi incredible amounts of death, and some people just Wick. “Things kicked along pretty well until the lose the will to live. tornadoes really ramped things up a lot.” “We’re still really active in trying to deal with this.” Phone, internet and electricity disappeared in the To address the issue: hardest-hit areas, sometimes for • The City of Chattanooga more than a week. No phone calls or created a phone bank and recruited text messages or emails for anyone, volunteers to call older adults. including those 65 years and older. • Bags were made and distributed “How are they getting their health to public housing residents. The bags care without a phone?” asks Wick, All the structure included donations of small activities Vicky B. Gregg chair of gerontology. by local volunteers and books from “How do they know who to contact around COVID the Chattanooga Public Library. if they have health care needs? response was AARP also donated hand sanitizer. Certainly they’re not getting online.” • The Social Isolation Community Even before the tornadoes, Wick building, and there Group sponsored multiple pop-up, had spent weeks scrambling to wasn’t a particular socially distanced events, including make sure older adults got what animal parades, signage, goodie they needed in the Chattanooga group that was bags, entertainment provided by area. Seeing the desperate need, looking at older UTC music therapy students and she became the hub for local dance companies. organizations and others wanting to adults. • The Enterprise Center and help older adults who might not be EPB set up Wi-Fi hotspots in able to fend for themselves during neighborhoods to increase internet the pandemic. She organized daily access for local residents. Zoom meetings to discuss the who, • Local volunteers created door what, when and how of helping the decorations that were delivered and hung at a local elderly with others. nursing home to spread cheer. “All the structure around COVID response was The effort to help senior citizens across the building, and there wasn’t a particular group that was region is ongoing and will continue as long as the looking at older adults,” she says. danger of coronavirus remains, Wick says. Despite Reaching out to those who needed help, she the seemingly never-ending work and moments of worked with more than a dozen groups and confusion, dismay and worry, she says the outreach agencies, including the Hamilton County Health effort has been worth it. Department and Office of Emergency Management, “Looking back, it’s been extremely rewarding,” she the Southeast Area Agency on Aging and Disability, says. “It’s been a community collaboration. It’s not St. Alexius Outreach Ministries, the Partnership for one person. It’s not one entity. It’s everybody really Families, Children and Adults, the United Way and working together.”
hings were going pretty well in the Older Adults Community Task Force. Older adults stuck in their houses to escape COVID-19 infection were getting food and medicines delivered; transportation to doctors and other appointments was provided when needed; social isolation was relieved by phone calls and some socially distanced visits. Then tornadoes hit on Easter Sunday in April.
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