Supporting a McGregor Resident During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

It’s Hard. But There Are Ways to Help!

We’ve never faced anything like COVID-19 in our lifetimes. For health care professionals like those who work at McGregor, there is a constant feeling of concern as they go through the workday. They are trying to maintain normalcy with a looming threat lurking with every touch. It’s causing us to do things differently to keep each other safe. And that has extended to our patients.

For the last few weeks and the foreseeable future, our residents are not allowed to receive outside visitors in an attempt to comply with the mandated social distancing. It’s just not worth the risk, no matter how hard it is, to allow outside visitors to enter our facility. That works out well for physical health. But for mental health, it has created some long days and weeks for many of our patients. So what can we do to help seniors in assisted living during COVID-19? Here are some ideas:

Send Cards and Pictures

You can send our residents pictures, even if you don’t have a relative or friend in our facility. You don’t have to put a name on it; just send some love, and we’ll put it up in our halls to brighten up the place!

Video Conferencing

We know that not every resident has access to a smartphone or a computer, but many do. When you can’t do face-to-face interactions, video chat is the next best thing!

Call More Frequently

If you normally call every day, call twice a day. If you call once a week, call every few days. Our residents are looking forward to human contact more than they ever have before. Increase the frequency of contact and your loved one will benefit.

Check in With the Staff

This is more for your mental health than our residents’ mental health, but you are their advocate, and you are an important part of their care team. You are allowed to ask for updates and maintain your awareness as to what we are doing at McGregor to keep our community safe.

This is such a unique time. Trust that our staff is going to do everything possible to keep our residents, their families, and our staff safe. We are fighting the fight together with our residents as the focus. And they always will be.

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