I think we really need to start connecting our seniors with some sort of mental health care and try to do it in a safe way by accessing rapid testing so that people can actually go in and see these seniors. They live for their families. We need to reconnect them. We need to get counsellors or anybody to see these patients face to face.
Unfortunately, unlike those of us who are in the digital world and can connect with people, seniors never grew up with this. They maybe were introduced to this 15 years ago. That's not enough. They need to be able to connect, to see people, to see facial expressions and to see their grandkids or their family members.
I think it's about accessing the rapid testing so that this can happen, and about creating a safe bubble community for our seniors: having five or six people that they once again can connect with safely. Once again, it's about using things like rapid testing. Fifteen minutes in their world is fine, but we can't wait days, weeks or months for testing to come back.
I am seriously concerned about the amount of alcohol that is being used by seniors. Just as younger persons are, they are using it to deal with this. Patients have come to me—they finally broke down and came to the office—and have said, “Dr. Dawson, I can't do this anymore.” They saw an article and they say, “I want to be referred to MAID because my whole life is my family.” They see those articles and they say, “I don't want to live anymore.”
What do you do with these seniors who can't reach out? They can't use BounceBack in Ontario because they don't have a computer. We really need to try to create a group for them, whether it's a social-distancing coffee hour for seniors to talk about things or getting them connected with their families, to try to stop that wheel of fear.
Family members don't want to go visit grandpa and grandma because they're scared of causing them to die. The realistic aspect is that they'll probably die sooner from something else other than COVID, especially if we put proper checks and balances in place.