Practical advice to help compensate for lack of socialization and cognitive stimulation
Take an online adventure
Virtually tour museums or explore outer space with NASA's free online video and image library. From bees to birds to bison to bears you can observe nature and animals with Explore.org's livecams. Relive your own adventures by flipping through photo albums and videos. And dream about (and plan) your next adventure — near or far — when the coronavirus social distancing advisories are a thing of the past.
Document life stories
Take this quiet time to gather your loved one's history. You can ask questions and write down their responses, or they can write their own. Record stories by using an app, like StoryCorps, which archives all stories for the Library of Congress, and also has do-it-yourself guidance to make your own recordings. The Legacy Project offers an exhaustive list of life interview questions to prompt answers. You may be surprised at what you learn about a family member or friend's early lives, first loves and work or military experiences.
Write cards and letters
This is a good time to surprise friends and family with a greeting card, or send thank-you notes to military service members via Support Our Troops. “I decided to look past what I'm feeling [about the coronavirus outbreak]. I will be sending two friends who are locked down in nursing facilities, and a small number of prisoners, cards of encouragement this week,” says Jeanie Olinger, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who cares for her son, who was injured in a car accident; her mother and aunt live in separate nursing facilities. “There's just something funny about focusing on others — [it] seemed to lift my spirits a bit to reach out."
Get back to basics
Diane Beard Zawalick, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, lives with her husband, who has moderate stage dementia. “We are watching movies and enjoying time to just ‘Be’ and hang at home,” she says. Down time is a rarity for many of us. Make the most of it by connecting with loved ones, absent some of the distractions of our everyday lives. Psychologist Kathleen Cairns, of West Hartford, Connecticut, is having telephone sessions with clients and staying at home with her mother, who lives with her and is currently in hospice care. “It feels nice in a way to go back to a simpler way of life,” she says, “We are reading, watching movies and TV series; I'm walking my dog. This is time with my mother I might not otherwise be spending with her."
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