For more than a year, many older Nevadans stayed home.
Away from family, friends, and the life they knew.
“The pandemic shone a spotlight on what we’ve been dealing with for 25 years,” said Kerin Zuger, Chief Strategy Officer of Right at Home, a company providing in-home care and assistance to seniors.
“Loneliness and depression, and anxiety, those are things that are very very common in the geriatric population,” she said.
The CDC estimates more than 13% of seniors requiring home healthcare are dealing with depression.
And in a July survey, one in four older adults reported anxiety or depression as a result of the pandemic.
For the most at-risk adults, Zuger says Covid was a struggle: Quarantine, isolation, and fears over contracting the virus.
“It’s been very scary, and that causes an emotional toll on our seniors,” Zuger said.
And says most, suffer in silence.
Doctors warn depression in older adults is often misdiagnosed.
