20 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | MAY 2 020 Social isolation and loneliness among older adults were serious concerns before the coronavirus. Now, the health risks of loneliness from being sheltered in place have created an even greater public health crisis. Carey Peña | Contributing Writer FSL is committed to helping seniors CAREY’S CORNER {carey peña reports} “My mother called me up and said they wouldn’t let me in to see Gammie. Can you do something about it?” Gov. Doug Ducey shared this story with me during the statewide Town Hall I co-moderated a few weeks ago. I asked the governor about how this pandemic is personally affecting him and his family. He shared the hardship of not being able to visit his grandmother, who he calls “Gammie.” While Ducey may be in charge of operations in the state, he is also a husband, father and son who shares the same concerns as many of us about our senior population. Social isolation and loneliness among older adults were serious concerns before the coronavirus. Now, the health risks of loneliness from being sheltered in place have created an even greater public health crisis. “Seniors are afraid. They are isolated to begin with, and now they are more isolated. We see more and more of that,” said Tom Egan, the CEO of the Foundation for Senior Living, or FSL. STEPPING UP FOR OLDER ADULTS When the pandemic first hit, I opened our Inspired Media 360 production studios to conduct some exclusive interviews — sitting six feet apart with only one crew member in the studio — with nonprofit leaders. They needed emergency help reaching out to the public, and I wanted to do something. Egan was one of our first interviews. “Demand is going up, and funding is going down,” he said. “Imagine being a senior, and you have no transportation, or limited transportation, you’re being told to distance yourself from other people. You have limited options and live on a fixed income.”

MAY 2 020 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 21 The Care by Design team makes weekly calls to homebound seniors. These calls provide a friendly voice to help combat loneliness but also to ask probing questions to ensure these seniors have what they need during this time.