Sunshine and salutations
For families of dementia patients, chance to see loved ones like a day at the beach
A handful of residents at Oak Lawn’s Grace Point Place got the opportunity to step outside Tuesday and visit with their families — in some cases for the first time in months — while visiting the “beach” at the same time.
Grace Point Place is a residence that specializes in care for people with dementia and, after months of lock down due to COVID19, administrators wanted an opportunity to get residents outside and enjoy some limited contact with loved ones.
Shannon Dahlman, community relations director, said one of the residents wanted to go to the beach. However, as a real beach trip is not yet a possibility, Dahlman said she thought the facility could bring the beach to the residents.
In a courtyard in the back of the facility, employees set up folding beach chairs, beach balls and umbrellas and arranged for 15-minute visits between family members and their loved ones.
“I just feel like the beach and time with the family is really important and because they’re not able to do that right now, then we decided to bring it to them,” Executive Director Laporsha Chavers said.
About seven families signed up for beach time.
Dominic A. Nicosia was one of those visitors. He was there to see his wife, Irene, who, he said has been living at the facility for the better part of two years. He said it’s been hard not seeing his wife of nearly 63 years in person.
“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “I’m so happy just to be with her.”
One of Nicosia’s children, Donna, works at Grant Point Place as an activities assistant. She said it’s been nice being able to check in on her mother, and she’s been giving her father updates.
“He’s been holding up really good,” she said of her father. “It helps with me being here a lot of the day. I report back to him that she’s getting taken care of very well here.”
As the pandemic unfolded in March, residents could not meet their families in real life for several months. The facility allowed for window visits, but nothing else until recently, when Grace Point Place started offering open-air courtyard visits. Chavers said that’s been tough.
“The hardest part for our residents has been not being able to see their families,” she said.
Some residents had been used to much more contact. Denise Yaeger stopped by Tuesday to see her mother, Marilyn Foley, and said her family is so big her mom typically saw various family members often.
“Someone would come every day,” she said. “So to go from every day to not at all was extremely difficult for all of us.
“There’s something to be said for actually seeing your family as opposed to phone calls.”
Beyond the family visit, Chavers said getting outside and getting different sensory stimulation is good for the health of the residents.
“A lot of our residents here, they may not be as high functioning so they get more benefits from touch and feel,” she said. “This is about waking up the senses
they maybe don’t use every day. It brings excitement to the resident and it intrigues them.”
Chavers said she didn’t know when the care facility would totally return to normal and allow normal socializing and in-person inside visiting, but they are planning other fun activities that incorporate safety guidelines.
Dahlman said they will host a fair July 25.
“It’ll be a socially distance fair,” she said, adding that they will limit entry and contact. “We’ll have booths set up 6 feet apart with different games for residents.”