Containment of seniors: "I felt like I was living alone on this earth"

"I am not so interesting because I am all alone, I have no visitors, I have nothing". At 83, Simone found herself in extreme loneliness during the weeks of confinement. Cut off from her three daughters and grandchildren, she saw no one during this time. And she is not the only one to have found herself in this situation.

Between the ban on visits to the Ephad and the social distancing measures taken to protect the most vulnerable - in particular seniors at high risk from Covid-19-, some 720,000 elderly people had no contact with their families during containment. And among them, 650,000 have not even found anyone to talk to or confide in. This is what the latest study by the association of Little Brothers of the Poor reveals, which gives voice to the elderly, about whom much has been said in recent weeks, but which we have finally heard little about. 

"The lack of human contact has become very heavy. I felt like I was living alone on this earth. I would not have thought of suffering as much. I need human contact", testifies Angèle, 67 years old. Like her, 5.7 million French people over 60 suffered daily from loneliness.

Physical and moral traces

This feeling was all the more violent since it was accentuated by the stress generated by the virus itself and the forced removal of small children, presented at the beginning of the pandemic as possible "carriers" of the virus.

"On a psychological level, the period was very difficult for the elderly because their grandchildren were forbidden to come to see them because they were told that they were carriers and dangerous. What is so psychically vital suddenly becomes a danger of death… It is extremely violent. Psychically, this speech will leave traces ", fears psychotherapist Hélène Romano, consulted by the association. The study notes that confinement had a negative impact on the moral health of 41% of seniors and on the physical health of 31% of them.

Some grandparents have been able to fill the gap through long-distance relationships with their families thanks to modern technological tools. Reading video stories or helping with homework on film helped maintain the link between certain grandparents and their grandchildren. However, the digital divide between new and old generation has kept many seniors in the exclusion, knowing that more than 4 million over 60s never use the Internet.

Solidarity during the crisis, individualists after?

It is the physical bond that remains essential for seniors. And despite the feeling of isolation revealed in the study, a strong surge of solidarity allowed many of them to maintain contact with the outside. Associations and municipalities have mobilized to help them. The Little Brothers of the Poor association notes that more than 3,000 people volunteered to become volunteers during the confinement.

But will this momentum continue after? Only 31% of the elderly think that the French will remain united after the crisis. To prevent seniors from falling into oblivion, the association launched the hashtag #plusjamaisinvisibles, reminding that the isolation of seniors is not only rife during health crises or heat waves . "Isolation, loneliness is all year round," she laments.

720,000 elderly people had no contact with their families during the confinement.
Discover our unpublished report and share our gifs so that isolated seniors are not #PlusJamaisInvisibles https://t.co/bDizYv4Vui pic.twitter.com/aZiT9RB6bU

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