Staying Close with Your Senior Loved Ones During Covid-19

Tips For Staying Emotionally Close During Covid-19

How do you keep in touch with your elderly loved ones without putting them at risk of developing serious complications from the dreaded COVID-19 infection? This can be a tough call but we at Dogwood Forest are doing everything we can to keep our assisted living community in Dunwoody COVID-free and protect our residents and associates from infection and transmission.

Unfortunately, this means we have to strictly implement social distancing rules and temporarily closing our doors to visitors and non-essential workers. Effective March 12, 2020, we have suspended visits for all individuals with a few exceptions. You can read about the current visitation practices in our assisted living communities in Dunwoody by visiting this link – https://www.dogwoodforest.com/blog/covid-19/.

While we understand that the mere thought of being cut off from your elderly family members can be difficult to bear, especially during these trying times, we need to enforce strict preventative measures to keep your loved ones safe. That said there are still some ways you can keep in touch with your loved ones and stay safe as well.

5 Creative Ways to Stay in Touch with Seniors in Assisted Living Conditions

Data shows that older adults and people with pre-existing chronic medical conditions are more at risk from the coronavirus. However, social isolation can also lead to serious health and mental complications. So, how do you assure you senior family members that you’re there for them even if you can’t visit? Here are some creative suggestions that you may want to try.

1. Have a virtual connection. This is the most practical way to stay in touch with your elderly loved ones, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Use video chatting apps such as Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and/or Skype to check in on them and see how they’re doing, talk about how their day went, or virtually eat lunch or dinner together. You may also let the kids read stories or play games with their grandparents.
2. Send care packages. Show them that you’re thinking of them by sending things they enjoy or things that will put a smile on their faces. Consider sending pictures, artwork, candies, puzzle books, yarn, and/or art supplies.
3. Do it the old-fashioned way. You can always stay in touch by writing letters. Your elderly loved ones will be thrilled to receive one! However, if you don’t have the materials you need or can’t go out to mail it, you can try Postable, Handwrite and/or Greetabl to do the trick. These websites allow you to pick a card, write a personalized message, and send it to the home address of your choice.
4. Start writing a family book story. Take turns writing sections online and store them in Google Drive.
5. Make a COVID-19 time capsule. Ask loved ones to collect items (photos, books, letters, artwork, crafts) and put them into it. Making a time capsule can help you cope with everything that’s happening around you and preserve memories during this uncertain time.

Dogwood Forest, Your Trusted Assisted Living in Dunwoody, GA

At Dogwood Forest, we put a premium on our residents’ health and well-being. We understand that the environment they live in significantly impacts their quality of life so we do our best to provide them with assisted living as they’ve never seen or experienced before. For inquiries, Contact Us today or call us at 404-996-1013.