Last month, Vancouver Coastal Health announced increased protections for residents of all long-term care residents due to concerns around COVID-19, including suspending all visits from family members unless the resident is deemed to be at the end of their lives.
While the protections will help keep residents healthy and flatten the curve of the pandemic, being suddenly unable to see loved ones takes a different kind of toll, according to one Powell River resident.
“My grandfather [Verne Roberts] lives at [Evergreen Care Unit], and he has quite a large family so someone was always visiting him,” said Tara Daniels. “It was quite a change, going from seeing your loved ones every day to not having the ability to be with them or have conversations with them. Right now, we want to keep the people we love safe, but there is a piece of you that misses having that daily interaction. Those first few days were tough.”
However, thanks to quick work by the activities staff at Evergreen, Daniels can now schedule times to visit with her grandfather via Skype or FaceTime.
“When we have a Skype call, it makes my whole day,” she said. “In a time where things are a little cloudy, that’s my sunshine, to see him and have a chat with him. My aunt and my mother connect with him through Skype as well, and we really appreciate having the opportunity to do that.”
Daniels has high praise for the activities staff.
“It’s just such an amazing thing for them to do,” she said. “I know they’re very busy, especially now, but they recognized how important human-to-human connections with the people you love are for the residents’ health.”
Roberts is in good spirits, said Daniels.
“He is such a happy, optimistic guy, and he knows he’s somewhere safe,” she said. “We always talk about how cool video chatting is, that it’s a neat tool to have. His spirits are up, and of course we’re all hoping for the day when we can visit like we used to, but for right now this is a great way to tide us all over.”
Being able to connect with loved ones is also good for those outside the extended care unit.
“Spending time talking and laughing together, those are the things that will get us through this pandemic, and I think the staff at the ECU recognized how important it was not just for the people living there but us as well,” said Daniels. “Technology is sometimes a blessing, especially right now. I feel very lucky to have these options, and I think a lot of other families are as well.”
