Medical students welcome chance to connect with isolated seniors

After the COVID-19 pandemic brought her clinical rotations to an end, third-year medical student Madeline Parker missed being able to help take care of patients.

Parker, who is originally from Regina, is now a student at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine. As visitor restrictions in hospitals were announced and schools across the province moved classes online, the U of S cancelled all third- and fourth-year students’ clinical rotations.

Back at home in Regina, Parker missed her busy days of interacting with patients.

That’s when she heard from her friend Masooma Bhatti that there was still a way she could connect with patients through the Student Senior Isolation Prevention Partnership (SSIPP). Since the program began at the University of Toronto, medical students from more than a dozen universities across Canada have opened their own chapters, and Bhatti established one at the U of S.

The program aims to connect medical students with isolated seniors through a weekly phone call, and Parker was thrilled to become a part of it.

“Seniors are already at risk for loneliness, but that’s especially amplified with social distancing, so our main goal is really to provide company (for) people who may not be receiving much interaction otherwise,” she said in a recent phone interview.

“A lot of us miss interacting with patients right now, so it’s helpful for us to have that interaction as well.”

The program was only established at the U of S a couple of weeks ago. Since then, Parker has been volunteering her time with the program, calling long-term care facilities and family physicians across Saskatchewan to see if any of their patients could benefit from being connected with a student.

So far 10 seniors have been enrolled in the program and 42 medical students have volunteered to be paired with a senior. As word of the program spreads and responses from long-term care facilities and physicians continue to roll in, Parker hopes to see the number of seniors enrolled grow.

“The evidence surrounding the link between isolation and depression and mental health outcomes is there, and I think our main worry is that this already vulnerable group, seniors, is going to be at further risk,” said Parker.

“They’re a group that maybe don’t have the social connections that others do.”

The weekly phone calls give seniors the opportunity to connect with someone on a regular basis. While the students are not equipped to give any kind of medical advice, they can provide basic information on the COVID-19 pandemic.

SSIPP is open to any senior, whether living in a long-term care facility or independently, but the patient must be referred to the program by their physician.

Anyone interested in being paired with a medical student is asked to contact their doctor and ask to be referred, or for more information on the program, they can email ssipp.usask@gmail.com.

A lot of us miss interacting with patients right now, so it’s helpful for us to have that interaction as well.