COVID-19 as a “Digital Push?” Research Experiences From Long-Term Care and Recommendations for the Post-pandemic Era

Health authorities and governments worldwide label older adults as a "risk group" for more serious and possibly fatal illness associated with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) (1). Those older adults living in long-term care (LTC) are considered especially prone to more serious and fatal disease following a COVID-19 infection (2). Consequently, measures requiring LTC residents to shelter in place and maintain physical distancing from others have been enacted in many countries during the pandemic. However, these measures make this group particularly prone to isolation, especially because the measures have prevented family members from visiting nursing homes for several months. Researchers have posed concerns that these particularly strict measures are likely to enhance feelings of loneliness and isolation in LTC residents (3).