Nutrition, Function, and Quality of Life in Older Adults Socially Isolated Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focus on Telehealth Interventions

Social interaction restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemicPandemic, COVID-19 multiply the adverse effects of social isolationIsolation, social on community-dwelling older adultsAdult, older, bringing potentially long-lasting adverse healthHealth outcomesOutcome. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, community-dwelling older peoplePeople, older were already at riskRisk for social isolationIsolation, social, particularly those who experience chronic conditions, incomeIncome changes, the recent loss of loved ones, retirementRetirement, sensory loss, and worsened pre-existing healthHealth. Shuttering of commercial and community resources in addition toSocial distancing social distancingDistancing, social and safer-at-home recommendations disproportionately limit older adultsAdult, older’ access to care and support. While the combination of age- and COVID-19-related social isolationIsolation, social has increased the riskRisk of acute and chronic malnutrition and restricted older adultsAdult, older’ ability to be physically active, the situation has also fostered new avenues to address these concerns using remote interventionsIntervention, remote. The broadening landscape of technologyTechnology has created new opportunities for remote interventions for healthHealth and well-beingWell-being improvement in the older populationPopulation. While the implementationImplementation may be challenging, the transition to using this technologyTechnology by an aging populationPopulation, aging is both feasible and beneficial; improving nutritionNutrition, functionFunction, and life quality.