EATON — Greenbriar Senior Living Campus brought families together on Thursday, April 2, for a window-side visit. Family members were encouraged to stop by the nursing facility to greet their loved-ones through the widow and talk via speaker phone and posters.
The event was controlled and windows were not opened, in the hopes of preventing any potential virus spread. Families were distanced and well spaced out, keeping social distancing in mind.
According to Administrator Ian Cali, this was a chance for family members to see those they haven’t been able to due to COVID-19.
“It is a chance for people to pop-in, see their loved-ones through the widow, and we have phones that are being passed around,” he said. “I had a great experience, where this lady was in tears when she had the chance to talk to her family. It has been four weeks since they’ve been shutting things down.
“We wanted to open up the windows for people to see each other! Nothing is going to be able to pass through, there is a glass pane and six feet apart, but this is a chance to see each other. Many of the loved ones have been excited for this day.”
The idea had been circulating with other homes doing the same sort of event. Homes had been doing video chats, but clients wanted to see their families face-to-face. This concept was initiated at Greenbriar with a one-time event, but Cali expects to have regular visit time in this manner moving forward.
“Like I mentioned, I just got off the phone with this lady and I was on one side of the speaker phone. She is blind and hard of hearing. It is beautiful weather, but she feels like she is in her room constantly. She asked me today to see her loved-one and with three of the family outside the window, we were able to speak on speakerphone,” he said. “She just started crying. She said, ‘I missed my sister so bad,’ and of course told them not to get in trouble and go home safe.”
More information can be found on Greenbriar Nursing Center on Facebook, including several posts on how the residents of Greenbriar are handling their quarantine.
“We’re doing daily posts, we’re having many hundreds of people following our stuff now. I think it has been an exciting way for us to use social media,” he said.
