Abstract

Social-isolation enforced in a response to the outbreak of COVID-19 puts older adults at greater risk for mental health distress and cognitive decline. Given the pivotal role of social interactions in cognitive resilience and mental health, clinicians should target on-line social experience in older population. However, online social interactions (and telehealth), are especially challenging in older age. In one word, Zoomastrope! I will discuss two main factors that place older adults at risk of performing below their cognitive potential: sensory age-related changes and social changes (e.g., ageism). Both factors are affected by COVID-19 restrictions, and both affect social interactions.

Biography

Boaz M. Ben-David, Ph.D. an associate professor at the School of Psychology, the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, where he heads the Communication, Aging and Neuropsychology lab (CANlab) and the Program for Law and Psychology. He holds adjunct faculty positions at the University of Toronto (Department of Speech-Language Pathology) and at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (UHN). He is interested in the interaction of cognitive, sensory and social processes involved in speech processing and production, especially with older adults. He is also interested in the complex interplay that governs the perception of emotions in speech, in different populations and the validity of tests in older adults.

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://zoom.us/j/98668630713?pwd=WkJLZzZJTXkwYTJGM0VFbEwyV3kyZz09

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