One Year Later – Two Surveys Examine Impact of COVID-19

Published in RINewsToday on May24, 2021

Over the year the raging pandemic has impacted on the physical and mental health of Americans. With daily COVID case counts now the lowest since last year and hospitals seeing less coronavirus hospitalizations, most states, including Rhode Island, are now opening up.

According to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) latest Stress in AmericaTM poll (findings released on March 11, 2021), the nation’s health crisis is far from over. Just one year after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, many adults report increased negative behaviors, such as undesired changes to their weight and increased drinking, that may be related to their inability to cope with prolonged stress.

APA’s survey of U.S. adults, conducted in late February 2021 by The Harris Poll, shows that a majority of adults (61 percent) experienced undesired weight changes—weight gain or loss—since the pandemic started, with 42 percent reporting they gained more weight than they intended. Of these individuals, they gained an average of 29 pounds (the median amount gained was 15 pounds) and 10 percent stated they gained more than 50 pounds, noted the poll’s findings.

Gaining Weight Bad for Your Health

Weight changes come with significant health risks, including higher vulnerability to serious illness from COVID-19.  According to the National Institute of Health, people who gain more than 11 pounds are at higher risk of developing Type II diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease, and people who gain more than 24 pounds are at higher risk of developing ischemic stroke. 

For the 18 percent of Americans who said they lost more weight than they wanted to, the average amount of weight lost was 26 pounds (median amount lost was 12 pounds). Adult respondents also reported unwanted changes in sleep patterns and increased alcohol consumption. Two in 3 (67 percent) said they have been sleeping more or less than desired since the pandemic started. Nearly 1 in 4 adults (or 23 percent) reported drinking more alcohol to cope with their stress.

“We’ve been concerned throughout this pandemic about the level of prolonged stress, exacerbated by the grief, trauma and isolation that Americans are experiencing. This survey reveals a secondary crisis that is likely to have persistent, serious mental and physical health consequences for years to come,” said Arthur C. Evans Jr, PhD, APA’s chief executive officer, in a March 21st statement announcing the results of the study’s findings. 

Evans calls on health and policy leaders to come together quickly to provide additional behavioral health supports as part of any national recovery plan.

The researchers found that the pandemic took a particularly heavy toll on parents of children under 18-years old. While slightly more than 3 in 10 adults (31 percent) reported their mental health has worsened compared with before the pandemic, nearly half of mothers who still have children home for remote learning (47 percent) say that their mental health has worsened; 30 percent of the fathers who still have children home said the same. 

APA’s study also found that parents were more likely than those without children to have received treatment from a mental health professional (32 percent vs. 12 percent) and to have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder since the coronavirus pandemic began (24 percent vs. 9 percent). More than half of fathers (55 percent) reported gaining weight, and nearly half (48 percent) said they are drinking more alcohol to cope with stress.

As to essential workers, (either persons working in health care or law enforcement), the majority said that they relied on a lot of unhealthy habits to get through the year-long pandemic. Nearly 3 in 10 (29 percent said their mental health has worsened, while 3 in 4 (75 percent) said they could have used more emotional support than they received since the pandemic began. Essential workers were more than twice as likely as adults who were not essential workers to have received treatment from a mental health professional (34 percent vs. 12 percent) and to have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder since the coronavirus pandemic started (25 percent vs. 9 percent).

Furthermore, people of color noted that unintended physical changes occurred during the pandemic. Hispanic adults were most likely to report undesired changes to sleep (78 percent Hispanic vs. 76 percent Black, 63 percent white and 61 percent Asian), physical activity levels (87 percent Hispanic vs. 84 percent Black, 81 percent Asian and 79 percent white) and weight (71 percent Hispanic vs. 64 percent Black, 58 percent white and 54 percent Asian) since the beginning of the pandemic.

Black Americans were most likely to report feelings of concern about the future, say the researchers, noting that more than half said they do not feel comfortable going back to living life like they used to before the pandemic (54 percent Black vs. 48 percent Hispanic, 45 percent Asian and 44 percent white).  They also feel uneasy about adjusting to in-person interaction once the pandemic ends (57 percent Black vs. 51 percent Asian, 50 percent Hispanic and 47 percent white).

“It’s clear that the pandemic is continuing to have a disproportionate effect on certain groups,” said APA President Jennifer Kelly, PhD. “We must do more to support communities of color, essential workers and parents as they continue to cope with the demands of the pandemic and start to show the physical consequences of prolonged stress,” says Kelly.

COVID-19’s Impact on Seniors

A newly released AARP study, released on May 10, 2021, has found that more than a year into the coronavirus pandemic, most adults age 50 and older say that it has had a negative impact on their mental health. Researchers found that seven in 10 older adults reported an increase in sadness or depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and nearly 8 in 10 said they had increased concern about the future, worry or anxiety. Half of adults 50 and older reported feelings of anxiety in the last two weeks, and 56% noted difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep, say the study’s findings.

“If you are feeling stressed and anxious after the last year, you are far from alone!” said Alison Bryant, Senior Vice President of Research at AARP in a statement announcing the survey results. “As our survey highlights, most older adults’ mental health and wellbeing was affected by the pandemic—and some of the ways we coped might not have been great for our health, either. With many communities returning to normal, we hope older adults will consider taking steps to reclaim their health this spring and summer,” she said.

Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic

According to the AARP study findings, seniors are responding to the increased stress in a variety of ways. About one in four of the respondents reported they are eating comfort foods or “unhealthy foods” like chips and candy more often than before the pandemic. And 27 percent of people 50 and over have increased the time they spend praying or meditating. One in 10 survey respondents reported seeking mental health care in the last year, a third of whom did so specifically because of the pandemic. Overall, 15 percent of older adults said that experiencing the pandemic made them more likely to seek help from a mental health provider if they had concerns.

AARP’s survey also highlighted how the pandemic increased loneliness and isolation among those age 50 and over.  Among older adults, 58 percent reported feeling increased loneliness, and 62 percent were less likely to socialize with friends and family compared to before the pandemic.

Voter reform must include accessibility for seniors and persons with disabilities

Published in RINewsToday on May 17, 2021

It’s over 540 days until the November 8, 2022 mid-term elections. The clock is ticking, say voter rights advocates, who are gearing up to push back at voting bills they see as restrictive being introduced at multiple state houses.  

As of March 24, 2021, GOP State legislators, responding to claims of voter fraud and election irregularities in last year’s Presidential election, have introduced 361 bills seen as restrictive by voter rights advocates in 47 states. “That’s 108 more than the 253 similar bills tallied as of February 19, 2021 — a 43 percent increase in little more than a month,” according to data compiled by the New York-based Brennan Center for Justice.

“These measures have begun to be enacted. Five restrictive bills have already been signed into law. In addition, at least 55 restrictive bills in 24 states are moving through legislatures: 29 have passed at least one chamber, while another 26 have had some sort of committee action (e.g., a hearing, an amendment, or a committee vote),” says the nonpartisan law and policy institute, noting that in some cases “a single bill can have provisions with both restrictive and expansive effects”.

President Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats are pushing back at GOP efforts they see as “suppressing voting” and introduced H.R. 1, For the People Act, which would be intended to “expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws, end partisan gerrymandering and create new ethics for federal lawmakers”.  The bill is considered to be the largest overhaul of U.S. voting in a generation, and is opposed by GOP lawmakers, who call it overreaching.

Fix Voter Access Issues for Seniors, and Persons with Disabilities

Although newspapers regularly cover both voter security and voter rights issues, voter access issues impacting seniors and persons with disabilities don’t receive adequate ink. 

Now, a national report’s findings reveal that some obstacles still exist for disabled voters at the polls. The recently released U.S. Election Commission (EAC)’s comprehensive 52-page national report, “Disability and Voting Accessibility in the 2020 Elections,” identified accessibility issues for voters with disabilities.  The study focused on polling place access, mail and absentee voting accessibility, election administration challenges, COVID-19 obstacles, and community involvement.

As the EAC plans for future elections, this data will be crucial in helping officials adopt new voting technologies and address the ever-growing accessibility needs of an aging demographic.

“In an election year with so many obstacles and unknowns, the improvement in accessibility for voters with disabilities is a testament to the hard work and dedication of election officials,” EAC Chairman Ben Hovland said, in a February 16, 2021 statement announcing the release of the report. “We are proud of election officials’ accomplishments during an especially difficult election season. This study provides the EAC with indispensable feedback as we continue our work with election officials and accessibility experts to ensure all Americans can vote privately and independently,” he said.

The EAC spearheaded the study under clearinghouse and research mandates outlined in the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The goal of the study was to analyze the 2020 election experience for voters with disabilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on a similar 2012 study also conducted by the EAC in conjunction with Professors Schur and Kruse, of Rutgers University, the project launched immediately after the 2020 general election.

The 2020 study engaged 2,569 respondents including 1,782 voters with disabilities and 787 voters without disabilities. As in 2012, the oversampling of voters with disabilities was designed to produce a sample large enough for more accurate measurements and reliable breakdowns by demographic variables and type of disability.

Compared to 2012, overall results show election officials made great progress serving voters with disabilities and ensuring they could cast a private and independent ballot. Obstacles continue to exist, but improvements were evident.

According to the researchers, voting difficulties among people with disabilities declined markedly from 2012 to 2020. About one in nine voters with disabilities encountered difficulties voting in 2020. This is double the rate of people without disabilities, but a sizeable drop from 2012.

The study’s findings indicated that among people with disabilities who voted in person, 18 percent reported difficulties, compared to 10 percent of people without disabilities. The disability figure is down from 30 percent in 2012.

During a general election that experienced a shift to mail and absentee voting, 5 percent of voters with disabilities had difficulties using a mail ballot, compared to 2 percent of voters without disabilities. One in seven (14 percent) of voters with disabilities using a mail ballot needed assistance or encountered problems in voting, compared to only 3 percent of those without disabilities. 

The researchers found that five of six (83 percent) of voters with disabilities voted independently without any difficulty in 2020, compared to over nine of ten (92 percent) of voters without disabilities. Voting difficulties were most common among people with vision and cognitive impairments.

Close to 75 percent of voters with disabilities voted with a mail ballot or early in-person in 2020. This represents a significant increase from 2012 and is higher than the two-thirds of non-disabled voters who did so in 2020, say the researchers. No doubt the pandemic influenced the increase.

Finally, the researchers note that people with disabilities voted at a 7 percent lower rate than people without disabilities of the same age, pointing toward a continuing disability gap in voter turnout.

Senate Moves to Remove Barriers for Seniors and Disabled

Last month, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules & Administration, introduced the Accessible Voting Act, legislation to remove barriers to voting for seniors and people with disabilities.  This legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR). Notably, an all Democratic sponsorship at this time.

This legislative action was triggered by a Government Accountability Study that found that combined deficiencies in architectural and voting booth access resulted in only 17 percent of polling places being fully accessible in 2016. The Accessible Voting Act would make polling places and voting systems more accessible, expand options for casting a ballot in federal elections and establish an Office of Accessibility within the Election Assistance Commission, dedicated to overseeing and supporting state efforts to make voting more accessible.

“The right to vote is one of the fundamental pillars of American democracy. That right is jeopardized when seniors and people with disabilities are pushed to the margins by barriers that prevent or make it hard for them to cast their ballots,” said Senator Casey in a statement announcing the introduction of the bill. “The Accessible Voting Act would remove these barriers and support the ongoing efforts by state and local agencies to make voting a truly equitable and accessible process,” he said.

“The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, but exercising that right is not possible for too many Americans. Inaccessible polling places and voting booths, limited access to transportation, insufficient options for casting ballots, and inaccessible voter information websites are all obstacles to voting for millions of Americans,” adds Klobuchar. “The Accessible Voting Act would help ensure that we remove barriers to voting for citizens with disabilities, the elderly, Native Americans, and those with limited English proficiency. Our democracy works best when all citizens can make their voices heard at the ballot box,” she said.

“Despite existing federal law protecting the rights of people with disabilities, far too often, these rights are overlooked and forgotten in our electoral process. The Accessible Voting Act seeks to bolster the protections for voters with disabilities, as established by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Help America Vote Act, and ensure equitable access to every American voter in our democracy for years to come,” said Curt Decker, executive director, National Disability Rights Network.

The Accessible Voting Act would create a national resource center on accessible voting to conduct cultural competency training for election officials and poll workers.  It would establish a new state grant program for the Office of Accessibility to provide dedicated funding to improve accessibility to voting. Finally, it would provide voting information and resources through accessible websites so voters know how to register to vote and cast a ballot.

As Congress grapples with legislation coming from both parties to tighten voter security on one hand, and ease voter restrictions on the other, it will be a significant failure to not also address the issues of accessibility for our population facing aging and disability obstacles.

Fixing Access to Internet as Tech Usage Surges Among Seniors During Pandemic

Published in Pawtucket Times on May 10, 2021

Over a year where a global pandemic has significantly reduced social interaction, technology becomes more important than ever, especially for home bound seniors. A newly released 39-page report from the Washington, DC-based AARP found that more older adults (44 percent) view tech more positively as a way to stay connected than they did before COVID-19. The findings indicate that 4 out of 5 adults age 50 and over-relied on technology to stay connected and in contact with family and friends.

Yet, the researchers found that the greater adoption and reliance on technology is uneven because 15 percent of adults 50 and over do not have access to any type of internet, and 60 percent say the cost of high-speed internet is a problem.

Pandemic Increases Use of Technology

“Technology-enabled older adults to better weather the isolation of the pandemic, from ordering groceries to telehealth visits to connecting with loved ones,” said Alison Bryant, Senior Vice President of Research at AARP in an April 21 statement announcing the release of the report, 2021 Tech Trends and the 50+: Top 10 Big Trends. “But it also exacerbated the divide. So much more is done online, and the 38 million disconnected older adults are being further left out,” she says. 

The report’s findings indicate that annual tech spending by those age 50 and over exponentially increased – from $394 to $1144. The top three tech purchases were smartphones, smart TVs, and earbuds/Bluetooth headsets. 

According to the researchers, using technology to connect with family and friends across multiple forms of communication has increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many say they are using video chats (45 percent), texting (37 percent), emailing (26 percent), and phone (29 percent) more now than before the pandemic’s onset. As of 2019, about half had never even used video chat, but one year later they did. Seventy percent have, with 1 in 3 using video chat weekly. Tech use among the age 50 plus community increased particularly in wearable devices – from 17 percent to 27 percent.

The AARP study’s findings indicate that the older participant’s use of smartphones increased dramatically, especially among the homebound. For instance, use for ordering groceries grew from just 6 percent to 24 percent; use for personal health increased from 28 percent to 40 percent for activities like telehealth visits, ordering prescriptions, or even making appointments; use for health and fitness information increased 25 percent to 44 percent and use for financial transactions increased 37 percent to 53 percent.

Weekly use of streaming increased to 58 percent from 44 percent, a significant shift in how the 50+ consume entertainment says the researchers.

Although the study’s researchers also found that half of the age 50 plus wanted to learn more about using tech (54 percent), cost (38 percent), awareness/lack of knowledge (37 percent), and privacy concerns (34 percent) were the top self-reported barriers holding them back from adopting and using the new technology.  

“Privacy concerns continue to be a factor when it comes to using tech, with 83 percent lacking confidence that what they do online remains private,” says the researchers.   

Bringing U.S. Broadband Networks to Millions of Americans

According to Washington, DC-based Free Press, a nonprofit group that is part of the media reform or media democracy movement, more than 77 million Americans lack adequate internet service at home, either because they do not have access or can’t afford it.  

Because of the “stark digital divide,” a much a higher percentage of white families use home broadband internet than Black or Latino families. The ongoing pandemic clearly showed these disparities, particularly for students who struggled to connect while learning remotely, compounding learning loss and social isolation for those students.

Although Congress has already included $3.2 billion in emergency funding for broadband access in the 2021 COVID-19 Stimulus Bill this year, President Biden has called for more funding to increase access to the nation’s U.S. Broadband Networks. Biden recently unveiled the American Jobs Plan Act of 2021, a $ 2.3 trillion infrastructure package, which includes $100 billion in funding to build affordable, reliable high-speed broadband infrastructure throughout the nation to reach 100 percent coverage, as a goal. It would also ensure that all Americans have lower costs for the internet.

Biden’s proposal would build “future proof” broadband infrastructure in unserved (rural and tribal lands) and underserved areas to reach 100 percent high-speed broadband coverage. It calls for reducing the cost of broadband to allow anyone who wants high-quality and reliable broadband internet to afford it and to promote widespread adoption. It funds the building of high-speed broadband infrastructure to reach 100 percent coverage, bringing access to unserved and underserved areas across the nation. It would also promote price transparency and competition among internet providers. This would be accomplished by lifting barriers that prevent municipally owned or affiliated providers and rural electric co-ops from competing on an even playing field with private providers, and requiring internet providers to clearly disclose the prices they charge.

The internet item falls within a broader “infrastructure proposal”. Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline calls for the passage of Biden’s infrastructure proposal, stating: “I’m especially pleased that President Biden’s American Jobs Plan addresses some of our most pressing priorities here in Rhode Island. It will rebuild our national transportation infrastructure by modernizing 20,000 miles of roads and doubling federal support for public transit. It will put us on track towards a more sustainable future by electrifying our transportation system and building a network of half a million electric vehicle charging stations. It will ensure every American has access to clean drinking water by replacing lead service lines and pipes that still serve up to ten million homes in our country. It will double the number of registered apprenticeships so that more Americans can take advantage of the jobs this plan creates.” 

It’s Time to Seriously Negotiate

GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif. and GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, along with members of their Caucuses, are united in their opposition to the passage of Biden’s infrastructure proposal. An insurmountable wedge was created by the bill’s expansive definition of infrastructure, to includes major funding investments for transportation, housing, eldercare workforce development, and access to broadband, to name a few. It even includes climate change policies, too. GOP lawmakers have a very narrow definition. Simply put, they say just include funding to fix roads, bridges, ports and waterways, and expanding broadband.  

Ultimately, another deal-breaker is how the costly legislative proposal is paid for. Biden calls for the costs to be offset by a corporate tax increase while Republicans see user fees such as road-related taxes and unspent COVID-19 relief funding, to cover costs.

Speaking recently at a press conference at the University of Louisville, McConnell said Democrats should expect “zero” support from the GOP for Biden’s big-ticket infrastructure and social spending proposal. He called on Democrats to support a Senate GOP counteroffer to Biden’s costly infrastructure proposal, costing a mere $568 billion (for roads and bridges, ports, waterways and expanded broadband).

There are many provisions of Biden’s American Jobs Plan of 2021 that both Republicans and Democrats agree on, including investing in roads, bridges, rail lines, ports electricity grid improvements, and increasing access to broadband. Biden says “he’s prepared to negotiate” the cost of the package and how it is paid for. 

So, it’s now time for McCarthy and McConnell to step up to the negotiating table to address their political and philosophical differences over Biden’s definition of infrastructure and funding.

It’s time to send a bipartisan infrastructure bill to Biden to sign.

·For more details about AARP’s Tech Study, go to https://press.aarp.org/2021-4-21-Tech-Usage-Among-Older-Adults-Skyrockets-During-Pandemic.