Feb. 2 — Heather M. Young Postdoctoral Fellow, nursing faculty publish research letter Becca Howe, a Heather M. Young Postdoctoral Fellow, and two Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis faculty recently published the research letter, “Association of social isolation and loneliness with telehealth use among older adults during COVID-19,” in the online Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The letter highlights Becca’s analysis of the 2020-21 National Health and Aging Trends Study to examine relationships between the use of telehealth and social isolation and loneliness among older adults during the first wave the pandemic. This contributes to a broader goal to identify strategies to improve care for high-risk older adults. According to the results of the researchers’ analysis, socially isolated older adults were less likely to use telehealth during the first year of the pandemic, which they felt may have compounded poor health outcomes in an at-risk group. Becca, who is a physician in the UC Davis Health Family and Community Medicine Department, is also a Heather M. Young Postdoctoral Fellow supported by the School of Nursing. Associate Dean for Research Janice Bell and Assistant Professor Julie Bidwell contributed to this letter, along with Family and Community Medicine physicians Joshua J. Fenton, Grace P. Amadi and Alicia L. Agnoli.