Keeping Connected at Cumberland View Aged Care
The world-wide COVID-19 pandemic deeply affected most of us and for many, being apart from family and friends was the hardest part. During lockdowns, the team at Cumberland View Aged Care were sad that they had to close the doors to keep residents safe, but the lifestyle team were quick to find ways to ensure residents stayed connected to their loved ones.
With many opportunities for residents to video call their loved ones through Zoom or FaceTime, they were able to keep up to date with everything happening in the lives of their families. For many, social media and technology was very foreign, but the team helped navigate the way through the challenges.
Janine Linnert, Lifestyle Coordinator, said, ‘The residents had the biggest smiles when they saw and heard their loved ones. It has all been worth it for the laughter, tears of joy – singing happy birthday or seeing the newest family member being welcomed into the world’.
‘At Cumberland View, we love posting all our fun events and activities on our Facebook page for families and friends to see. It’s always nice to get feedback from relatives of residents how much they look forward to scrolling through our photos,’ said Janine.
The lifestyle team regularly share the Facebook page on the big TV screen in the concert area for residents to see and photos are greeted with lots of laughs and cheers of recognition amongst the group.
Once a week, the lifestyle team offers ‘Hello high tech’ classes for residents and they also make room visits assisting residents with their smart phones, iPads, tablets, and Google nests to help with sending or receiving text messages and/or emails. One resident learned how to sort photos into albums on a smart phone and now loves to look back on such happy memories so quickly and conveniently.
Our residents love to take a trip down memory lane with our activities such as, ‘Welcome to the world and places of interest’ which takes the residents on a trip down memory lane. Using Google Maps to explore, residents love to visually see old neighbourhoods, childhood homes, schools, or favourite travel destinations and share many wonderful stories with other residents.
The computer nook has become popular with the Internet savvy and the smart TVs in lounge areas ensure residents can enjoy documentaries, movies, and armchair travel sessions whenever they like.
To ensure you keep up to date with all the latest happenings at Cumberland View, be sure to follow us on Facebook.
