Care facilities turn to tech to keep residents connected - Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice

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Photo: N/A, License: N/A, Created: 2020:03:20 11:46:32

COURTESY OF THE MEADOWS Elizabeth Warner celebrates her 99th birthday Friday with employees from one of The Meadows’ facilities in Dallas. Personal care facilities are sending images like this to their residents' loved ones while in-person visits have been paused.

Personal care facilities across the Wyoming Valley are making good use of technology.

While in-person visits have largely ceased due to the coronavirus pandemic, face-to-face interactions have continued at places like The Meadows Manor and Meadows Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Dallas.

“Of course we can’t replace a loved one and that bothers all of us,” said Linda Kanarr, CEO of Ecumenical Enterprises, which owns the Meadows properties. “So we’re creating innovative ways to get them connected.”

As nursing homes tighten their social restrictions, they are using Internet applications Skype and FaceTime to connect residents with loved ones.

Paula Lussi, director of nursing at Timber Ridge Health Care Center in Plains Twp., said her facility has several smartphones and one iPad all equipped with video chat capabilities.

Lussi said “it does pull at your heart strings” that Timber Ridge residents are missing out on the visits they look forward to, but added that its staff has ramped things up to fill the void.

“We try to be here for them as their family,” Lussi said, “when their family can’t be here.”

Residents at Timber Ridge, which has a capacity of 180, according to Lussi, each have their own television. There’s a telephone in every room. The activities department organizes packets on a daily basis that include crossword puzzles and word games. Books on tape are available.

New measures include fewer group activities, but more video chats and more photographs on Timber Ridge’s Facebook page that show the residents’ loved ones they are thinking about them.

Lussi said all the different departments — nursing, dietary, housekeeping, maintenance, activities, therapy and ancillary administrative positions — factor into Timber Ridge giving its residents the care necessary in these trying times.

“It’s really a team effort to keep the operation of this facility running smoothly and making sure our residents are cared for,” Lussi said.

Kanarr had similar things to say about the current state of affairs at the Meadows properties.

The Centers for Disease Control outlined many precautions that should be taken by nursing homes and other long-term care settings in order to be prepared for COVID-19, including “aggressive visitor restrictions” even before the virus is detected in the building.

“I think that with what we’ve been given to handle — because we’re very strictly regulated — I am extremely proud of the way our staff has stepped up and made the best of a difficult situation,” Kanarr said.

Contact the writer:

mbufano@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2060, @CVBufano