Life is Still Beautiful at The GreenFields
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as we knew it. In the past year we have had to re-learn how to work, eat, provide care, parent, socialize, and recreate.
Life with COVID-19 has also forced change across the globe, including our own little corner of the world at The GreenFields. Many changes have come through our best efforts to ensure the health and safety of our residents, families, and employees.
Visitation has been suspended or modified and social distancing has altered the way we serve our meals and present resident activities. But even in the wake of these necessary changes, life is still beautiful at The GreenFields!
Our residents and their families are adjusting to this “new normal” with support from our compassionate and dedicated employees. Despite restrictions which now prevent them from all dining together tableside, our residents continue to enjoy their restaurant-style meals, now with the added perk of room service!
Our Activities and Creative Arts team members are assisting residents and their families with communicating with each other through a variety of methods, including phone, Skype, FaceTime, and Zoom. In fact, it’s likely that some of our residents are hearing from friends and family members as much now as they did before the pandemic, and deliveries of flowers and gifts to residents have actually increased.
Since campus visitors are currently prohibited, a number of those living at GreenField Manor are assisting our Creative Arts staff by presenting various forms of entertainment for their fellow residents. Our residents are enjoying travel and history DVD’s that have taken them to America’s national parks and the Louvre Museum in Paris. Plenty of resident movie favorites are being shown in small groups, our GreenFields Chorus is still singing together in smaller numbers, and we continue to run several exercise classes for less than ten at one time.
Our drivers have been taking residents for “joy rides” around the area to help combat cabin fever. Staff members continue to do essential shopping for residents if families cannot deliver needed supplies. It seems as if resident birthdays have taken on even more significance with the pandemic, and they are being celebrated in earnest across our campus — including a recent one celebrating 105 well-lived years.
At times we are reminded of our “new normal” by the sound of sewing machines in GreenField Manor, as some of our residents there have passed the time by creating fabric masks for our staff and residents. But behind the masks being worn when necessary, most of our residents are smiling, treating staff and each other with love and kindness, and looking forward to brighter days. As one resident summarized, “Smiles and upbeat conversation abound. We will get through this!”
