Seniors Form COVID Pods to Ward Off Isolation This Winter
Over the past month, Dr. Richard Besdine and his wife have been discussing whether to see family and friends indoors this fall and winter.
He thinks they should, so long as people have been taking strict precautions during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sheâs not convinced itâs safe, given the heightened risk of viral transmission in indoor spaces.
Both are well positioned to weigh in on the question. Besdine, 80, was the longtime director of the division of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Brown Universityâs Alpert Medical School. His wife, Terrie Wetle, 73, also an aging specialist, was the founding dean of Brownâs School of Public Health.
âWe differ, but I respect her hesitancy, so we donât argue,â Besdine said.
Older adults in all kinds of circumstances â those living alone and those who are partnered, those in good health and those who are not â are similarly deliberating what to do as days and nights turn chilly and coronavirus cases rise across the country.
Some are forming âbubblesâ or âpodsâ: small groups that agree on pandemic precautions and will see one another in person in the months ahead. Others are planning to go it alone.
Judith Rosenmeier, 84, of Boston, a widow whoâs survived three bouts of breast cancer, doesnât intend to invite friends to her apartment or visit them in theirs.
âMy oncologist said when all this started, âYou really have to stay home more than other people because the treatments youâve had have destroyed a lot of your immune defenses,ââ she said.
Since mid-March, Rosenmeier has been outside only three times: once, in September, to go to the eye doctor and twice since to walk with a few friends. After living in Denmark for most of her adult life, she doesnât have a lot of close contacts. Her son lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
âThereâs a good chance Iâll be alone on Thanksgiving and on Christmas, but Iâll survive,â she said.
A friend who lives nearby, Joan Doucette, 82, is determined to maintain in-person social contacts. With her husband, Harry Fisher, 84, sheâs formed a âpodâ with two other couples in her nine-unit apartment building. All are members of , an organization that provides various services to seniors aging in place. Doucette sees her pod almost every day.
âWeâre always running up and down the stairs or elevator and bringing each other cookies or soup,â she said. âI donât think I would have survived this pandemic without that companionship.â
About once a week, the couples have dinner together and âwe donât wear masks,â said Jerry Fielder, 74, who moved to Boston two years ago with his partner, Daniel, 73. But he said he feels safe because âwe know where everyone goes and what they do: Weâre all on the same page. We go out for walks every day, all of us. Otherwise, weâre very careful.â
Eleanor Weiss, 86, and her husband are also members of the group. âI wear a mask, I socially distance myself, but I donât isolate myself,â Weiss said. This winter, she said, sheâll see âa few close friendsâ and three daughters who live in the Boston area.
One daughter is hosting Thanksgiving at her house, and everyone will get tested for the coronavirus beforehand. âWeâre all careful. We donât hug and kiss. We do the elbow thing,â Weiss said.
In Chicago, Arthur Koff, 85, and his wife, Norma, 69, donât yet have plans for Thanksgiving or Christmas. âItâs up in the air depending on whatâs happening with the virus,â he said. The couple has a wide circle of friends.
âI think itâs going to be a very hard winter,â said Koff, who has diabetes and blood cancer. He doesnât plan to go to restaurants but hopes to meet some friends he trusts inside their homes or apartments when the weather turns bad.
Julie Freestone, 75, and her husband, Rudi Raab, 74, are âpretty fanaticâ about staying safe during the pandemic. The couple invited six friends over for âThanksgiving in Octoberâ earlier this month â outside, in their backyard in Richmond, California.
âInstead of a seating chart, this year I had a plating chart and I plated everything in advance,â Freestone said. âI asked everybody to tell me what they wanted â White or dark meat? Brussels sprouts or broccoli?â
Dr. Richard Besdine, a former director of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Brown University, and his wife, Terrie Wetle, the founding dean of the universityâs School of Public Health, are experts in aging and public health. But they havenât come to terms yet on how to deal with the risks of socializing in the coming winter months, due to the pandemic. He thinks they should, as long as precautions are in place. Sheâs not convinced itâs safe. (Dr. Richard Besdine).
This winter, Freestone isnât planning to see people inside, but sheâll visit with people in groups, virtually. One is her monthly womenâs group, which has been getting together over Zoom. âIn some ways, I feel weâve reached a new level of intimacy because people are struggling with so many issues â and weâre all talking about that,â she said.
âI think you need to redefine bubbles,â said Freestone, whoâs on the board of , a Berkeley, California-based organization for seniors aging in place thatâs hosting lots of virtual groups. âIt should be something you feel a part of, but it doesnât have to be people who come into your house.â
In the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in Minnesota, two psychologists â Leni de Mik, 79, and Brenda Hartman, 65 â are to what they call SILOS, an acronym for âsingle individuals left out of social circles,â and their need for dependable social contact this winter and fall.
They recommend that older adults in this situation reach out to others with similar interests â people they may have met at church or in book clubs or art classes, for instance â and try to form a group. Similarly, they recommend that families or friends invite a single older friend into their pods or bubbles.
âLook around at whoâs in your community. Who used to come to your house that you havenât seen? Reach out,â de Mik recommended.
Both psychologists are single and live alone. De Mikâs pod will include two friends who are âsuper careful outside,â as she is. Hartmanâs will include her sister, 67, and her father, 89, who also live alone. Because her daughter works in an elementary school, sheâll see her only outside. Also, sheâll be walking regularly with two friends over the winter.
âCOVID brings life and death right up in front of us,â Hartman said, âand when that happens, we have the opportunity to make crucial choices â the opportunity to take care of each other.â
Consumer Resources
Public health experts advise that thorough and frequent hand-washing, wearing masks in public meeting in small groups and maintaining at least 6 feet of social distancing can help prevent the transmission of the coronavirus. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more detailed advice on its website, including these pages: