The “New Normal” at Senior Homes

It’s great to see senior homes slowly start to go back to “normal” or, at least, the “new normal.”  So, what exactly is this “new normal”? Well, there are a few things we can expect to be in place in senior homes to help protect residents.

• Visitors: Stricter procedures in place when it comes to visiting friends and family in homes. For example, temperature checks for all visitors will ensure that no one is entering with a fever, and visitors will most likely have to schedule their visits so that staff can minimize the amount of people visiting at one time.

• Health/Wellness (Activities): Activities or social events are important for a resident not just physically but mentally as well.  It’s likely though that availability will have to be reduced and activities may have to be limited for the foreseeable future to help limit social contact. For activities, sign-up sheets may be digitized, to free up staff time from these high-contact and non-critical tasks.

• Dining: One of the most social aspects of senior homes is often the dining experience. Instead of the typical 4 residents sharing a table, it may be just 1-2 residents per table.  When the weather allows, outdoor seating will also be useful for protecting residents while still giving them a good experience.

Socially, COVID-19 created more isolation and loneliness for many residents, restricting visits from family and socialization with other residents! We have previously written about seniors and loneliness (link to that post here), and we tried to do our part to help by setting up conferencing solutions like Zoom or Skype on existing tablets at client sites.  This allowed residents to connect with their families/friends digitally which provided much-needed comfort/companionship for those that were isolated.  We believe technology will continue to play a huge role in seniors homes moving forward to help them adapt to unforeseen situations like the COVID-19 pandemic.

ContinYou Care

We are happy with the fact that our platform did help streamline operations at the home level for staff while enabling connection to loved ones for residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.  With things slowly going back to normal, now is a great time to investigate and learn how to put your home ahead of the curve by investing in technology and a team that is passionate about creating a fantastic experience for both residents and staff alike.