A Covid Miracle

Assisted Living Facilities and Skilled Nursing Facilities have worked hard to protect their residents by allowing limited visitation since the onset of COVID-19. As a Geriatric Care Manager, I have been subbing in for caregivers who live far away and have parents here in NYC. This includes teaching the elders to use Zoom, introducing them to exciting online and telephone programming, stopping by for socially distanced weekly visits, accompanying them to an MD visit, or swinging by with a birthday gift. I also get to be the voice of reassurance or concern to the caregivers far away. It's an honor and a privilege to help fill this void during these unprecedented times.

In catching up with a former colleague I discovered an especially sweet story of love and devotion. I learned that her elderly father-in-law has been in Assisted Living lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic. The elder's adult children—each already engaged in professional careers (nursing and engineering)—took it upon themselves to receive online home health certification. This enabled them to get part-time jobs at the facility where their father lived, allowing access to him during the course of the pandemic. As so elders to social isolation and depression after being separated from their families, I was moved by this particularly heroic intervention.