COVID times have been especially challenging for older people and their families. As the risk for severe illness with COVID 19 increases with age, older adults are at highest risk. Extra precautionary isolation and restrictions to connect to others, like family members has been recommended and hence families are disconnected and many people are experiencing separation anxiety. 2020 especially has been a challenging year in Residential Aged Care. However, in tough times resilience is also born or rekindled. What are the factors that engage reliance in older people and why are some people aging with a great sense of freedom and others with a sense of despair? Is it just a matter of attitude? What does the current research say about aging with resilience? Evidence suggests that emotional wellbeing generally increases with age unless the older person is experiencing some major health issue or disadvantage (Centre for Mental Health 2018). Depression and suicide rates for people over 80 are alarming with males over 80 having the highest suicide rate out of the total Australian population.
This course will address these issues and provide opportunities to explore what makes older people resilient. This course is based on a “strength based” approach. Strategies will be identified and experienced that will promote a culture of resilience as you provide support for older people and their families. Beate´ will also refer to her book called “Tech-connect – Staying Meaningfully Connected in Aged Care’ as a strategy to promote resilience in older people.