In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, communities have had to deal with many challenges. One of such challenges is depression among seniors during quarantine. The pandemic has forced many elderly people to stay at home while not engaging in social interactions and exercise. Otherwise, there are key nursing interventions that would be useful in helping the senior members of the society to deal with depression during quarantine ( Borglin et al., 2019) . The most appropriate approach is to use population-based public nursing practice in identifying the affected population and addressing the issue, in this case depression among the elderly.
One of the interventions is Disease and other health event investigation. The method involves assessing the situation to identify threats to the specific population, assessing the source of threat, identifying the risks, and determining control measures. First, there is the need to screen for depression among the identified population especially in the suspected cases based on symptoms analysis ( Underwood et al., 2013) . Geriatric Depression Scale or Patient Health Questionnaire can also be useful tools in the process. The second step involves assessing and diagnosing depression, which helps in affirming quarantine, thereby, being able to design the most appropriate response strategies. The last step of the intervention method is selection of the most appropriate intervention strategy.
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Another nursing intervention strategy that is useful in dealing with depression among the seniors is health teaching. The approach involves educating the identified population on the skills, attitude, values, beliefs, and practices of coping up with such situations as quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Mass education is not only less costly but also less time consuming while covering a wide population. Since COVID-19 is an emergency, giving a generalized approach to the resultant depression serves the best interest of the public by being able to reach out to as many people as possible. Health education involves appreciation of the pandemic and teaching the elderly the life skills for coping with the associated depression.
References
Borglin, G., Räthel, K., Paulsson, H., & Forss, K. S. (2019). Registered nurses experiences of managing depressive symptoms at care centres for older people: a qualitative descriptive study. BMC nursing , 18 (1), 1-12.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (July 1, 2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Coping with Stress. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html
Underwood, M., Lamb, S. E., Eldridge, S., Sheehan, B., Slowther, A. M., Spencer, A., ... & Diaz-Ordaz, K. (2013). Exercise for depression in elderly residents of care homes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. The Lancet , 382 (9886), 41-49.
