It’s no secret that life at Vitality, as with all senior living communities across the country, has had to change recently. As we continue to navigate the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vitality Living remains committed to the safety and health of our residents, as well as ensuring they can still experience purpose, joy and feel connected to the community. We’re just doing this a bit more creatively now!
Engagement
As an organization, we’ve been proactive and quickly put precautions in place based on CDC guidelines – in many cases before they were even required. So some of the biggest changes you’ll find are due to the social distancing we’re practicing. We’re minimizing large groups and focusing on small group engagement; 6 people or less, each 6 feet apart. We’re achieving this by simply moving furniture around in some cases to creative ideas such as passing out 6 ft. ribbon as a visual reminder of distance. But we’re still offering a full range of activities throughout each day.
In memory care specifically, we’re approaching social distancing with visual cues, reminders and redirection as well as multiple spontaneous interactions throughout the day in addition to activities.
Each of our communities has beautiful outdoor spaces and courtyards and we’re certainly making use of them. We’re also encouraging independent leisure activities by passing out cards with recommended exercises on them as well as games and puzzles. The bright spot is that while different, everyone is still engaged and participating.
Technology
Our access to technology has truly been a silver lining. We’re sharing resources organization-wide in terms of websites, apps and tools that can help keep our residents connected and engaged.
Through virtual field trips our residents can go anywhere in the world and virtual concerts help them to be able to enjoy ‘live’ music; all things that were woven into our routine before COVID-19.
To provide total transparency, executive directors at each Vitality Living community are live-streaming daily COVID-19 updates, for families to ask questions and get updates as they’re announced. We also place the recorded version on each community’s Facebook feed to be accessed at your convenience.
Each of our communities is also equipped with computers and/or devices for resident use. So they don’t have to have their own in order to Skype or FaceTime with family! Simply let a team member know you’d like to schedule some time.
And while we’re not accepting outside packages for our residents now as an extra precaution, we do encourage you to send videos or virtual gifts. You can even upload them directly through our LifeLoop or iN2L technology platforms.
We’re also using technology to help potential residents and their families still get an inside look at our community with virtual tours!
How Are Residents Adjusting?
As you might expect, residents are experiencing some worry and are missing their families – as we all are! However, overall they are doing well – many are sharing that they feel safe, are confident in the precautions we’re taking and are enjoying all the opportunities they still have to engage. Check out our community Facebook feeds to see for yourself – you’ll find them dancing, exercising, playing music, making the most of life as they always have!
Ask and We’ll Answer
We’ve had many wonderful questions from our residents and families. Here are some of the most frequent ones:
- Can I visit my loved one? No. Our number one priority is the safety of our residents, families, and team members. Unfortunately, this means taking measures like limiting non-essential visits. Until we are able to lift our visitation restrictions, we will be hosting daily updates on Facebook Live about how we are managing through these difficult times, how your loved one are doing, and answer questions you may have.
- Can I see my loved one another way? Yes. We can schedule Skype and FaceTime sessions to keep you connected.
- Is my loved one confined to their room? No. We are practicing social distancing.
- Can a resident be checked out during this quarantine to stay at a loved one’s home? Residents trips out of the community are limited to urgent, medical visits only.
- Are outside care providers able to come in and provide resident services? No. Emergency services only. Our number one priority is resident safety.
- What is the screening questionnaire? Essential visitors are screened via a COVID-19 questionnaire. Individuals answering ‘yes’ to any question are prohibited from entering the community.
- How can I view your live videos? To access the Facebook Live events each day at 10 a.m. of the community’s time zone, make sure you have ‘Liked’ the Facebook page to receive updates on your News Feed whenever we start broadcasting. Comments that you type will be visible to the audience/Executive Director, allowing them to respond in real time. Simply, tap or click the Share button to share the live broadcast with other people.
COVID-19 testing provided
- Moving toward new move-ins: 72 hours prior to the move-in date
- Current residents: exhibiting potential symptoms
- Team members/staff: exhibiting potential symptoms and/or potential exposure
- Potential new team members tested before the start date
Should you have additional questions, please contact your local community.
We always look for the positives in a time like this and find that all these new solutions we’ve come up with to navigate social distancing have given us wonderful opportunities to expand our ability to offer purpose, joy and connection to residents. So, we’ll be continuing many of them even after the pandemic is over!
For more information on our response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.vitalityseniorliving.com/vitality-covid-19/
