Today the lovely Amanda is back to chat all about the impact of COVID-19 on Community and Residential Aged Care services. Amanda generously shares her experience of connecting with her Grandma who lives with advanced dementia in a residential care facility throughout the pandemic.
Whilst this episode doesn't speak specifically about restrictions in your state or impacts on individual service providers, we talk broadly about how we can support our loved ones through these challenging times.
In the community you may experience changes to services in regards to:
- Support workers wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Changes to service times, days or workers
- In extreme circumstances, non-essential services may need to be rescheduled or cancelled
- Service changes may be communicated at short-notice as providers respond to rapidly changing staff availability due to illness or quarantine
Some of the tips/tricks recommended for caring for yourself or a loved one during the pandemic are:
- Coming together as a community - family working alongside providers
- Being patient, kind & empathetic to service providers
- Have a 'COVID plan' in place - discussing what would happen if you were a close contact or if there was a significant reduction in services? Discussing if there is any capacity for other family, friends or neighbours to assist?
- Preparing items such as gift vouchers for payment of grocery shopping
- To remain socially connected - speak with loved ones over the phone, write letters, print photos, deliver snacks. Anything that helps individuals feel valued and cared for, goes a long way!
Within Residential Care settings some of the changes you may experience are:
- Changes to visitor hours or visitor restrictions
- Increased PPE by all staff
- PPE & vaccination requirements for visitors
- Facilities offering services like Zoom or FaceTime to speak with family when visitors restricted
- Changes to normal activity programs, but facilities offering alternative services in place of large group activities
- Changes to admission processes or site tours
If you haven't already, you can view our new website at www.thetruthaboutageing.com.au.
You can also find us on Instagram @thetruthaboutageing or on Facebook @thetruthaboutageingpodcast :)
Any of Amanda's opinions shared on The Truth About Ageing are her own.
