Do you manage a senior community or home? If so, one of your goals is to make sure your residents feel at home during their stay. Read here to learn some ways to make your retirement community feel more like home.
Regardless of someone’s age, people should always feel at home wherever they reside, even if that’s a retirement community. As staff members at a senior facility, you should foster a place of comfort to keep your residents feeling at home and safe, even during the COVID-19 crisis. Keep reading for some ways to make a retirement community feel like home.
Follow the CDC’s guidelines
Staying active is important for everyone regardless of age, even if it’s just a daily walk. Just ensure that you’re following social distancing. Unfortunately, at this time. residents must be kept safe and that forces many retirement homes to suspend several activities, since the elderly are the most vulnerable to COVID-19. As staff, you have a duty to keep elderly residents safe during this pandemic. You can keep your residents, your employees, and yourself safe by following the CDC guidelines.
Encourage meaningful relationships
Both the residents and staff should always have positive relationships. Your staff should feel connected to each resident; they become family over time. Again, these relationships look a little different right now with COVID-19, so you can encourage relationships through social distancing.
Give them the freedom to customize their room
Many residents are going to feel most comfortable when they’re in their room, so you should encourage them to personalize their room during this time of social distancing. Many older folks have their favorite chair from home, or perhaps they prefer all-white walls. Whatever they prefer, allow them to add in that element if possible.
Make their downtime enjoyable
Seniors rightfully love their downtime, and downtime will be even more prominent with the pandemic we’re facing. Many seniors enjoy watching television, whether it’s the news, Jeopardy, or their favorite movie, they need to be able to watch their favorite shows. That said, you need to ensure that TVs throughout your facility work properly. One of the most common reasons a TV isn’t working is a damaged HDMI cable, so keep an eye for some of the signs the HDMI cable went bad.
These are just a few things we can do to help make residents feel at home in their new home. If you incorporate these tips, you’ll be on your way to having even happier residents!