During the height of the pandemic back in 2020, there was talk amongst the Moores family members about how we were going to keep people safe. My paternal grandparents especially, with my grandfather having a serious history of cardiac problems and cardiac arrest. My father made sure they got groceries every week, their prescriptions were being picked up, and that they were being safe in their homes. My grandmother, who is an especially social person, struggled tremendously with not being able to see her friends and sit in the house all day. Though she had my grandfather, they have been married for 60 years and she wanted to see other people as well!
My grandparents are very creative and she learned how to use FaceTime to call me and my sisters, along with her other grandchildren. She learned different board games and my grandfather taught her how to play cards. She took up alternative physical activity measures (she loves going to the gym) to perform at home so she could stay active. She also went on various walks around the town outside with my grandfather while the pandemic was occurring. Both my grandparents were incredibly resilient and did remarkably well in the absence of normal social stimuli.
Initially, I did find my grandmother being a little more stressed than usual. My grandfather prefers to be alone and generally works on projects around the house when he finds himself alone around the house. Or, my grandmother always had some other additional project for him to do to keep him occupied. As time went on, though, my grandparents adapted to the situation and my grandmother started doing yoga to ease her stress about the pandemic. She also found that daily devotionals and prayer eased her stress, along with my grandfather.
I truly believe my grandparents are one-of-a-kind and are incredibly self-motivated. That being said, I understand that some of my older patients have not always been as energetic and self-motivated as my grandparents can be. This is a consideration I often take when I am helping elderly patients; but I also understand that the discouragement may be coming from somewhere and that prior to their hospitalization, they may have been just like my grandparents!
Thank you, Jo, for reflecting so thoughtfully on your grandparents’ experience during the pandemic, the new perspectives & learnings you gleaned from their experiences, and how you plan to apply that to your nursing practice & care of older adults going forward. I’m curious if there was anything you heard during the CECE event that struck you as interesting or helpful for your future career?