Peace of Mind for Seniors First-In-Line for COVID-19 Vaccine

January 21, 2021
| Vitality Living

When it comes to healthy aging, quite honestly, there’s a lot to do. You’re supposed to make sure to keep your body active and your brain engaged all while maintaining your social connections as well. Sure, the benefits to your overall well-being are worth the effort, but retirement is supposed to be a time with less responsibility on your plate, right? Well, it turns out that in senior living you can have your cake and eat it too, so to speak. Here’s how programs like our Vivid Life make keeping active, engaged, and connected easy and fun!

Benefits of Healthy Aging

Good things happen when you focus on healthy aging. In addition to feeling better overall, which in and of itself is a win, other benefits of keeping active, engaged, and connected include:

Improved ability to do everyday things
Reduced impact of illness and chronic disease
Enhanced mobility, flexibility, and balance
Improved sleep
Increased energy level
Reduced feelings of depression and stress
Increased feelings of happiness and self-confidence
Reduced risk of cognitive decline
Increased mental adaptability and cognitive reserve
Improved memory recall and problem-solving skills
Improved concentration and attention to detail

How Senior Living Can Help

At home, particularly when living alone, it can be hard to stay as active, engaged, and connected as you’d like. From lack of opportunity to lack of motivation to lack of transportation to mobility challenges, and more, it’s tough, we get it! That’s why we created the Vivid Life program in our senior living communities. It’s composed of three parts: Vibrant Body, Vibrant Brain, and Vibrant Connections. Here’s what each entails:

Vibrant Body – We offer amenities such as a state-of-the-art fitness center, a pool, walking trails, gardening opportunities, and even a dog park to help you stay active. A sample of activities includes:

Walking club – Daily walks at different outdoor locations using pedometers to measure steps.
Yoga – At least once per week for gentle yoga, and once per week for mindful breathing.
Fitness classes – At least two times per week using a variety of hand weights, resistance bands, and circuit-type exercises.
Tai Chi – At least once per week with a live instructor.
Non-traditional exercise – Dancing, gardening, etc. at least two times per week.
Physical games and sports – Golf, putting, bowling, croquet, bocce, and ping pong available daily with organized events one to two times per week.

Vibrant Brain – We offer monthly calendars filled with classes, events, creative arts, and enrichment opportunities to help keep you engaged. A sample of activities includes:

Visiting lecture series – Twice per month with topics such as cultural, historical, local interest, career-oriented, etc.
Creative art series – At least one per week with a theme that runs 3-6 weeks, such as poetry writing, storytelling, painting, digital photography, etc.
Learning series – At least three times per month with an emphasis on learning something new such as foreign language, sign language, technology, hobbies, etc.
Games – At least one time per week and may include poker, bridge, Scrabble, etc.
Mindfulness – A meditation class once per week and gratitude discussion group twice monthly.
Church service – At least once a week through visits by local churches.
Stress reduction – At least once per month class that offers deep breathing exercises, nature walks, music appreciation, spa-type treatments, etc.

Vibrant Connections – We offer resident-led clubs, social events, outings and volunteer opportunities for any interest to help you stay connected. A sample of activities includes:

Outings – At least twice per month and may include going to concerts, art shows, museum visits, theatre productions, etc.
Intergenerational programming – At least once per month and focuses on building relationships between young adults/children and residents.
New resident welcome party – At least once per month to formally introduce all new residents, and includes ice breakers, social games, etc. to encourage connection.
Philanthropic program – At least once per month provide residents the opportunity to give back to the community, such as volunteering for a local food bank or pet shelter.
Resident-led clubs – May include game clubs, professional clubs, common interests, etc. that meet at least monthly.

What’s more, it’s all right outside your door (or transportation is provided offsite) and all in a supportive environment with home maintenance, housekeeping, and restaurant-style dining freeing your time to make it even easier to stay active, engaged, and connected.

Learn more about Vitality Living’s Vivid Life programs. Or find a Vitality Living community near you today to schedule a tour.

It’s a new year and the page has turned not only on the calendar, but we’re also hoping to turn the page on the pandemic with FDA approval of COVID-19 vaccines. Even better, the CDC has recommended that residents in community settings such as senior living (as well as our team members) be among the first to be vaccinated, in what’s known at Phase 1a.

Here’s how this will impact seniors and their families.

First for Peace of Mind

After months of worry and separation, the COVID-19 vaccine represents so much for seniors who are at high-risk for the virus and their families. And for our residents, being in Phase 1a means they’ll be vaccinated before seniors living at home with these groups to follow:

Phase 1b (75 years and older)
Phase 1c (65 – 74 years old)

This not only gives residents tremendous peace of mind that the COVID-19 vaccine can help protect them from getting the virus, but it also helps to stop the spread of the virus so that they can get back to all the things we’ve been missing out on with family and friends!

How We’re Preparing for the COVID-19 Vaccine

While specific COVID-19 vaccine distribution plans vary by state, rest assured we’ve been diligently preparing to safely support vaccinations in each of our communities. The next steps include:

Your community will receive an email directly from CVS with 3 preselected clinic dates for vaccination, once received we will notify all residents, families, and team members.
Your community will receive a phone call to review clinic details and confirm the first 2 clinic dates.
Once clinic dates are set, CVS will provide consent forms for the first and second vaccine clinic and posters will then be sent to the community from the pharmacy. Once received, we will distribute consent forms to residents, responsible parties, and team members with directions and the due date for return.
The community will upload resident data into CVS’s Vaccine Clinic Scheduler and everyone who has opted for the vaccine will receive a specific appointment time for the clinic date.
With support from CVS, the community will host a clinic for the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
With support from CVS, the community will host a clinic for the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

In the meantime, we continue to follow all local, state, and federal guidelines and protocols for COVID-19 response as outlined here to minimize the risk of exposure for our residents and team members.

If you have been considering a move to senior living, there has never been a better time. In addition to being among the first to receive the vaccine, our communities are making sure the move-in process is safe and smooth with a range of precautions. These include performing COVID-19 testing 72 hours before your move-in date and on day seven, as well as asking all new residents to shelter in their apartments until after the second test is negative.

For more information, contact us or schedule a virtual tour today.

COVID-19, Just Thinking, Senior Living

Vitality Living

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