Letter to the Editor: Blinded by science
This letter is in response to Mr. Milne. Your recent post regarding the damage that the Covid lockdown has done resonated with me. In particular the story of a Son visiting his Mom at a care center behind a plexiglass wall. Our family visits with my 93 year old Mom who suffers from Dementia is also behind a plexiglass wall.
In an effort to protect our elders in Care Homes across the states we locked down the facilities and took away all visits with family and friends, in-house concerts, interactions (singing, dancing, bingo, exercise classes, trivial pursuit, puzzles, games etc…) watching movies or TV shows with their friends, outings for walks, concerts, picnics, shopping, coffee etc… , breakfast, lunch and dinners sitting with friends at the table in their dinning rooms, hair, manicures, pedicures (huge mental boost for seniors) all gone, human touch, hugs, birthday celebrations, holidays (Easter egg hunts for the little ones) with family, animal visits, children signing, dancing, student volunteers, and so much more. In place of all of this, they were given tablets and computers to visit with family and friends. Most don’t even understand the concept, or struggle to understand how they can be seeing family and not be with them. A couple of the caregivers were telling me that residents would cry and ask them to call their family to come see them. One lady said “ I just want to hold my daughters hand again”. They did not/could not understand why they had been abandoned.
What we took away in attempt to protect them is what helps Dementia patients thrive. It helps keep their brains active and alive. Several families I have talked to said they would rather have had their parent contract Covid then have to live through this. At least they would have had a chance to survive it.
In Japan, where there is a tradition of high respect for their elders, they chose to not lockdown in order to protect their minds.
They did not subject their elders to the new disease of Isolation, but we did and it has killed their brains far more rapidly then Dementia would have.
We kept them from Covid and destroyed them for ever.
Mr. Milne, thank you for your post, I could not agree with you more.
Kathleen Browne
Quincy