How loneliness from social isolation harms the elderly and dementia sufferers – and ways to help them overcome it

Forty-three-year-old Cindy Teo is a carer for her mother, Loh Yok Hing, who has mild to moderate dementia and is wheelchair-bound.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a minor impact on their family, with Loh sometimes expressing discomfort when she comes across news reports about the increasing number of deaths around the world and the store closures across Singapore, where they live.

“Of course, because of her condition, she sometimes forgets that there’s a pandemic and can’t remember why I’m not going to work. Because she also experiences mood swings from time to time – which I’m not sure are due to her distress over Covid-19 – our family has had to be more patient with her. We try to keep things as normal as possible.”