No trouble in the bubble
Concerned carers and whānau have been contacting us asking about staying in touch with their loved one in care during the Covid-19 restrictions. So we asked David King at Ryman Healthcare, one of our accredited Dementia Friendly organisations, what they are doing to help families stay in touch.
As I write this, I am in day 30 odd of lockdown with my wife, four teenagers, a schnauzer and two cats.
We’re missing a big part of our family though – my mum June – who has Alzheimer’s and is in care.
She’d be part of our bubble in a perfect world, but we know the lockdown is for the best.
It is more than six weeks since I’ve been able to see mum – AKA Nanny June – in person.
We stopped visiting in early March, long before the Government lockdown.
That’s because everything I had read about Covid-19 led me to believe visiting anyone in dementia care was not worth the risk.
Subsequent events have proven that we were right to be cautious – one of the few times in life I’ve been ahead of the curve.
We’ve had some tough days. There are days when mum gets distressed, but a phone call or a Zoom encounter usually work wonders.
There has been surprisingly little trouble in both bubbles, mostly thanks to Zoom.
Mum loves Zoom.
She lives in the moment, and she’s always been a visual person and a world class talker on the phone, so Zoom is made for her.
We Zoom her round the house so she can check in with everyone, including the dog.
She knows about Covid-19, she watches the news and loves having the paper read to her, and, while she calls it that terrible thing, she understands why we are not visiting.
We’ve wiled away the time by making a thank you video which has been posted to all off the staff who look after her, because we think they are superstars.
I turned 50 a few weeks ago during the lockdown in the bubble.
I Zoomed mum on the day.
Her response to my golden milestone was very ‘mum’.
“If you’re 50 then that makes me bloody old,’’ was her response.
Yay mum. She’s still got it.
We are all looking forward to seeing her soon.
And me the most.
Two weeks ago we rolled out Zoom to 3,800 devices in residents’ rooms, so we can help families keep in touch. This includes about 850 residents with dementia.
We had 350 families get in touch wanting to use Zoom straight away, and staff are working hard to get everyone connected.
It is a big logistical exercise – we piloted it at Rita Angus village and it was a hit. The challenge is booking times that suit everyone.
A whole lot of families have been connecting, and the technology is a fantastic help at this tough time for families.
David King
Corporate Affairs Manager, Ryman Healthcare