There is Still a Large, Vulnerable Population Out There… Even as NSW Lockdown Restrictions Ease
By Freja Newman
12 Nov, 2021
News Story Assignment
NSW COVID-19 restrictions have eased, yet the vulnerability and fears of the elderly generation remain. While in isolation from their family and friends, older members of the NSW community say that adapting to the unprecedented livelihood inflicted by the pandemic has caused mental, physical and technological difficulties.
Patricia Broadbent, a 74-year-old resident at Mountainview Retreat Retirement Village in Dural, said that the hardest part of the Sydney lockdown was not being able to see her family.
“It was quite difficult,” she said. “[My husband and I] were in an apartment and we couldn’t even see our neighbours!”
A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has found that more than one third of adults aged 45 and older feel lonely. The recent NSW lockdown lasting several months has only enhanced this loneliness for older individuals living in both city and rural areas.
“Sydney was in lockdown for so long,” said Anne Moore, 78-year-old Taree resident. “This meant that even though we weren’t, we couldn’t see our family for over a year.”
Rachael Roberts, a nurse at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) in Camperdown, said that this familial separation was particularly devastating for those living in nursing homes or who couldn’t attend a friend’s funeral due to lockdown restrictions.
“There was a strong sense of isolation for many in not being able to see people face to face, despite having zoom options,” Roberts said. “Even social interactions like card playing sessions, art sessions and music that stimulated the mind as well as the body were all stopped.”
Francis Burfitt, a casual worker at a variety of group homes in the Inala Disability Services Organisation in Sydney’s North West, said “shutting down day services to comply with public health orders radically rocked a lot of the clients routines and led to a lot of difficult to handle, unsettled behavioural issues.”
As a result of this isolation, many older adults have become more distant, even as NSW restrictions have eased. “I have to admit that a lot of us, even maybe me, have become a bit antisocial,” Broadbent said. “It’s really interesting, because normally I love going out, but now I think about whether I should even bother.”
Alongside these psychological challenges, Roberts has stressed the decline in physical health for many older individuals due to the lockdowns.
Broadbent and her friends in her Dural retirement village “all got fat,” she said. “We didn’t do enough exercise and we sat around and put on weight which was very sad.”
Burfitt said that many of their clients’ routines were disrupted as they were no longer able to go out for picnics. “A lot of them spent most of their time indoors,” he said. “The only exercise they were getting was a walk around their local block.”
“My parents’ fitness levels have definitely declined,” Roberts said. “And they are noticing the effects as they are starting to get back to life.”
This was the case for many others as exercise groups stopped and rehab sessions, gyms, pools and other fitness opportunities were no longer available. Roberts said that this deconditioning will have an impact on many people’s health.
However, the prominence of other critical health conditions in older generations has only worsened their isolation, increasing fear towards COVID-19. Global data from the Medical Journal of Australia has indicated that the elderly are at the greatest risk of severe disease, hospitalisation and death from COVID-19, particularly due to the high presence of other underlying medical conditions.
“My parents were also finding that when they went out walking people would cross the street to avoid them,” Roberts said. “They acknowledge that they were doing this to keep them safe and were thankful for their consideration but it did make them feel like lepers.”
For patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, a group of progressive lung illnesses that mostly occurs in people aged above 45 and increases breathing difficulty, their sense of isolation was impacted by the fact that their symptoms were similar to those of COVID-19.
“An RPA Clinical Nurse Consultant managing these patients told me that they felt they were being looked upon when they went out as people thought they might have COVID,” Roberts said. “So they were very socially isolated and fearful.”
“People were also presenting to the Emergency Department later than usual due to the fear of catching COVID and therefore their prognosis was worse,” Roberts said. “For many, their appointments, tests and scans have been delayed so the flow on effect is yet to be seen.”
Even now, as restrictions have eased and NSW COVID-19 vaccination rates have reached 90%, reservations about visiting the hospital persist. Broadbent, who was happy to visit the dentist or her General Practitioner, said that she’s steering clear of hospitals at the moment.
“My doctor suggested that I go in to get something for my heart but I thought ‘You must be joking! I’m not going anywhere near a hospital with COVID around’,” she said.
Previous miscommunication in media coverage increased this anxiety for both older generations and their loved ones. “There was a genuine fear of what was going to happen,” said Roberts. “With the whole AstraZeneca media blow up, this created a lot of fear around clots and heart problems for many elderly people as many are on blood thinners and heart medications.”
Additionally, news coverage of the various COVID lockdown protests across NSW at the end of August this year only enlarged the anxiety in the elderly community as hundreds of people defied public health orders and restrictions.
“All of us old people are really, really, really angry about that,” said Broadbent. “It’s totally ridiculous and totally uncalled for. Not happy with them at all.”
Moore, who also owns a house in Kingscliff, has some reservations about easing restrictions. “There are a lot of anti-vaxxers in Byron Bay which is quite close to us” she said. “It’s a bit of a worry.”
However, even without people opposing the COVID vaccine, fears surrounding the dangers of COVID-19 are still very prevalent in older communities. Margaret Murray, a 81-year-old resident in Wingham, located in the Mid-Coast Local Government Area just north of Sydney, will still only go into stores if absolutely necessary, despite nearly 80% of residents being fully vaccinated.
“[My husband and I] feel safer outdoors if we are going to have a coffee or something,” she said. “But I think we’ll continue to wear our masks for a long time. I know we don’t have to wear them outside, but I will.”
Ultimately, there is still a large older population of vulnerable individuals who are continuing to face fears and adapt to the technological literacy expected for QR code check-ins and vaccination passports in NSW.
“For my mother-in-law who does not have a licence, passport or photo ID card, it took us over 2 hours to try and sort out all her documentation for proof of vaccination certificates,” Roberts said. “We could still not do it as her birth certificate was from 1939 and was a done on a typewriter!”
Even with restrictions easing, it will be a long time before older individuals will be comfortable returning to normal life, if at all.
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Freja Newman 