Published July 8, 2020
By GAIL LOWE
LYNNFIELD — A group of Lynnfield Middle School students recently came together to lift the spirits of the town’s senior citizens.
No one has been more vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus than senior citizens. Not only are they more likely to contract the virus, they might be living in social isolation and have no one to turn to in this time of social distancing.
The town recognized that it takes a village to tackle this serious problem and developed a unique approach to bring cheer to those who live alone or are residents of nursing and rehabilitation centers or assisted living facilities. According to last year’s census, 18.8 percent of Lynnfield’s population is 65-years-old or older for a total of 2,444 senior citizens.
A Healthy Lynnfield (AHL) launched the “Spreading Sunshine” project. Middle school students in grades 5 through 8 were asked to spread their sunshine by sharing drawings, poems or words of encouragement with senior citizens in town.
Participating in the project were eighth-graders Meaghan Woods, Ally Sykes and Keely Briggs and seventh-grader Emma Rose.
Two options were presented to the students.
The first involved printing a template provided by AHL that students could use to create a poem, colorful drawing or other creative piece of art. The students also shared a little information about themselves. After photographing or scanning their work, they were asked to email it to AHL.
The second option allowed the students to create a work of art on their computers.
“The students could use their favorite website or program to make something colorful and fun,” said Substance Use Prevention Coordinator Peg Sallade. “As in the first option, they were asked to include information about themselves. Intergenerational projects provide an opportunity for building positive relationships with adults outside of school, a factor that builds resilience.”
Once all the submissions were received, a video was created, which included personal comments and words of encouragement from AHL student leaders. The Lynnfield Council on Aging distributed the video by email to 1,500 senior citizens, and the video link was sent to the Sunrise Senior Living and the Lynnfield Housing Authority (LHA) as well. The LHA also printed and posted the submissions on its bulletin board.
“Having a social connection is important to everyone’s physical and mental health,” said Sallade. “We are all conscious of public health safety so the video and link were not distributed as hard copies or through regular mail.”
Comments from senior citizens ranged from “I so enjoyed all of the nice wishes from the students” and “please thank those thoughtful kids for thinking of us” to “I loved seeing the young faces with all of their nice messages.”
Lynnfield Senior Center Director Linda Nacarra started the project after the pandemic’s outbreak when she was looking for creative ways to reach out to senior citizens. AHL staff members worked with middle school teachers and AHL Middle School Club Advisors Sheri Weeks and Matt Angelo to launch the project, which was coordinated by AHL Outreach Coordinator Kelsey Coughlin. Through the combined efforts of Nacarra, Coughlin, Stephanie Peterillo from Sunrise Assisted Living and Housing Authority Executive Director Daniel MacIntyre, the project got underway.
According to experts, social isolation among the elderly during the time of COVID-19 has been a difficult problem that can worsen the health of people with heart disease, diabetes, stroke and depression.
“Understanding the impact of depression on health in older adults is very important as it can be severe,” said Sallade.
