The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · May 2020
Strategies to Promote Social Connections Among Older Adults During 'Social Distancing' Restrictions.
Older age and medical comorbidity are factors associated with more severe illness and risk of death due to COVID-19 infection. Social distancing is an important public health strategy for controlling the spread of the virus and minimizing its impact on the older adult population. It comes at a cost, however. ⋯ In this paper, we describe a cognitive-behavioral framework for social connectedness, including evidence-informed strategies clinicians can use to help patients develop a 'Connections Plan' to stay connected and promote their social, mental, and physical health during 'social distancing' restrictions. This set of strategies can be provided during brief (30 minute) telephone sessions and is analogous to creating a 'Safety Plan' for suicide risk. The approach is illustrated with three case examples.