Visitation is highly restricted for nursing homes, as they are hotspots of life and death.

If your loved one uses a smart phone, family communication is maintained. For those with less technical skills, many nursing homes now compassionately lend residents cell phones for usage.

One of my patients was positive for COVID-19 and quarantined in a coronavirus ward. There, they would not lend residents a cell phone (probably for fear of contamination), so all communication with her daughter halted. The patient was hospitalized.

She lost her appetite, decreased weight, became dehydrated, dropped blood pressure, and went into early renal failure. Hospitalized for a week, she returned to the nursing home.

I had her transferred out of the COVID-19 quarantine ward, arguing the 14-day time expired, and thereafter she was able to use a smart phone to communicate with her daughter. She has flourished and done fine.

If you anticipate your loved one could be admitted to a nursing home or hospital, think about giving them a crash course in using a smart phone.

Maintaining communication might be the difference between life and death.

Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D., is a geriatric house-call physician who serves as president of the Los Angeles County Commission for Older Adults and Assemblyman to the California Senior Legislature. He has practiced in the Santa Clarita Valley for 32 years.