Students Video-Call Senior Citizens to Combat Sense of Isolation Under COVID-19

Stanford University students and affiliates have rolled out a volunteer-based program that connects community members with nursing home and assisted-living residents for video calls to combat the isolation of COVID-19 on seniors in long-term care communities, reports the Stanford Daily . Virtual Park Bench was created by Stanford alumnus Dan Guo, with the goal of replicating park benches, which often function as spontaneous social hubs for seniors, through scheduled video calls. "The Centers for Disease Control put a lot of restrictions on these communities in response to the outbreak, such as no more visitations, in-person volunteering, or community dining," Guo noted. "These residents were left lonely in their communities, where there is already an epidemic of loneliness." Guo, medical students, and undergraduates collaborated on the program, which matches volunteers to residents based on their linguistic preference, time commitment, and interests or backgrounds. "We strive for long-term relationships between residents and volunteers," Guo said. Virtual Park Bench tailors its communication platform to each individual community, sometimes using Skype or FaceTime on tablets. Since its March inception, Virtual Park Bench has teamed with about 10 long-term care communities in California to provide companionship and conversation to 50 seniors.