“We’re protecting them to death”—A Heideggerian interpretation of loneliness among older adults in long-term care facilities during COVID-19

Abstract

In this paper, I draw on Heidegger’s phenomenology of “moods” ( Stimmungen ) to interpret loneliness as a diffused and atmospheric feeling-state that often undergirds the lives of older adults, shaping the ways in which they are attuned to and make sense of the world. I focus specifically on residents in long-term care facilities to show how the social isolation and lockdown measures of the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically intensified the mood. The aim is to shed light on how profound and totalizing the experience has been for residents. Making use of Heidegger’s account of the affective “collapse” or “breakdown” ( Zusammenbruch ) of meaning, I argue that when older adults are functionally locked in their rooms for months at a time and cut off from the orienting routines and rhythms of the relational world, the result is a crumbling of the fundamental meaning-structures that constitute subjectivity. The global sense of abandonment and disconnection strips away the possibility for self-understanding, and residents are often left confused and abandoned to an existence that has been drained of meaning and significance.

Exploring experiences of loneliness among Canadian long‐term care residents during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A qualitative study

“…This study suggests some of the reasons why the COVID‐19 pandemic exacerbated experiences of loneliness among residents in LTC. A significant factor was the visitor ban, which has been cited in other studies on this topic in Europe, Australia, the United States and other areas in Canada (Aho, 2022 ; Beogo et al, 2022 ; Rasnaca et al, 2022 ; Simard & Volicer, 2020 ; Van der Roest et al, 2020 ). This study provides qualitative data directly from residents and staff members to support that the visitor ban contributed to resident loneliness.…”

“…Confining residents to their room and limiting their contact with others can have devastating and potentially permanent health consequences, some that may be more extreme than if the resident was at risk for COVID-19 infection. This is supported by work from Aho (2022), who argues 'We're protecting [residents] to death'. Aho suggests the extreme measures taken to prevent spread of COVID-19 has left residents 'confused and abandoned to an existence that has been drained of meaning and significance'.…”

“…Van der Roest et al ( 2020 ) examined levels of loneliness during visitation restrictions related to COVID‐19 in LTC facilities in the Netherland and found that there was a high percentage (77%) of residents who felt lonely. Aho ( 2022 ) from the United States suggests the COVID‐19 lockdown in LTC intensified the lonely feeling of residents. Beogo et al ( 2022 ) conducted a scoping review argue that loneliness existed among residents in LTC in Canada before COVID‐19 and the global pandemic further exacerbated the problem because residents were more isolated.…”

The Giants and Forerunners of Phenomenology: Husserl, Heidegger, and their Predecessors

“…Heidegger understood "positionality" as the position or situation in the world from which one perceives the world (van Manen, 2014). Aho (2022) offers the example of loneliness to explain the idea of situatedness. The experience of loneliness manifests on a continuum; the degree to which one is lonely is mediated by individuals' positionalities.…”

Do Long-Term Care Facilities Pursue a Zero COVID-19 Strategy while the Rest of Society Opens Up?

“…8 Although temporary visitor and activity suspensions may have been deemed necessary and worthwhile to attenuate mortality and morbidity, the prolonged pandemic begets the question of whether quantity of lifespan is worth the trade-off in diminished quality of life. 9 We suggest the following considerations as LTCFs find their own path toward endemicity.…”