Progress 2021: Valley retirement homes work to maintain social connections

Retirement homes across the Valley are working to support their residents while maintaining their safety. The staff from these facilities have been adapting to pandemic conditions in creative ways to make the most of the stressful and challenging times, longing for the prospect of a return to the more familiar social connections they’ve known before the pandemic.

WASI

Wasilla Area Seniors offers a variety of housing options for assisted living and independent seniors at their main campus and stretching out into the greater community. According to CEO Chuck Foster, they’ve had their fair share of challenges like other senior communities, but they’ve been able to safely navigate through the pandemic while safely fostering as many social connections as they can.

“We have tried to maintain as much normalcy as possible. So, when we’ve changed our operations in 2020, most dramatically in March as a result of the governor’s declaration, we tried to make it as low impact to the seniors we serve as we could,” Foster said.

WASI served ready to go meals to their seniors throughout the summer of 2020. Foster said it was a highly popular program that gave their residents a chance to catch up with each other from a safe distance.

“What we learned there is that a lot of people came early just so they could see their friends in an outdoor setting. They would line up in their cars and some folks would go visiting car to car… The seniors themselves chose to do that so they could maintain those social relationships, which are very important to senior health,” Foster said.

WASI is currently back to hosting indoor dining at their main campus. Foster said it’s a socially distant model with spaced out tables with their own capacities and a lot of cleaning and sanitization done in between. He said they still deliver meals, and offer pickup to those who want it.

“We're not back to where we were in 2019… We believe we’re offering a safe place for seniors to come,” Foster said. “Oh gosh, we are cleaning like we've never cleaned before.”

Foster said there’s been six positive cases that he knows of among their residents. He said those cases were resolved without any serious issues, and they’ve been lucky to have such a little amount of exposure.

"We haven’t, knock on wood, had anything like an outbreak among our senior population… We hope that continues as well,” Foster said.

WASI is currently allowing visitors that are invited by residents. Foster noted that they screen every visitor, and no one with symptoms, recent travel or exposures will be allowed to enter.

According to Foster, WASI residents can access the library, gym, and other onsite facilities that are mitigated with heavy sanitation and maximum capacities. He said their exercise programs have moved online with virtual instructors. He said it’s likely they’ll retain some portion of that virtual experience after the pandemic.

“In terms of morale, there were so many people that were happy they could come in… They get this sense that they are not alone,” Foster said.

Foster said that WASI staff rose to the challenge and they’ve been supporting the residents in a number of ways, particularly during the holiday season. He said they’ve done everything from delivering meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas to simply investing extra time to talk to them.

“I'm very proud of the staff and volunteers,” Foster said. “Those are things that we’ve done for a long time but they took on a new meaning.”

PIONEER HOME

The Pioneer Home isn’t allowing visitors onsite, presenting a particularly tough challenge to the staff members as they try to keep the resident's spirits up. Administrator Joshua Shaver said that despite the hurdles of physical separation and other stresses from the pandemic, they’ve been faring well through the ever changing situation.

“We’re still dealing with being closed down, not being open to visitors. That’s probably the biggest thing everyone misses the most… Everyone’s been missing that family atmosphere, especially during the holidays,” Shaver said.

The Pioneer Home was one of the first facilities in Alaska to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Shaver said that numerous residents and staff were vaccinated. He said it’s all voluntary.

“Right now we’re focusing on getting as many people as we can vaccinated. We'd like to see 75 percent more staff vaccinated… Most of our residents have already gotten the vaccine,” Shaver said.

Pioneer Home staff are helping residents connect with their families remotely with phone and video calls. Shaver said they’re working out different ways to set up no contact face to face visits on site like having a plastic barrier between both parties. He said they’re hoping to expand their visitation opinions as soon as they can.

“We’re moving in a good direction with vaccines happening and case counts going down. Hopefully this will be the year that everything goes back to normal,” Shaver said.

PRIMROSE

There are approximately 71 residents at the Primrose Retirement Community of Wasilla, according to Executive Director Tauna Norman. She said they’ve been working to come up with creative ways to make up for the tough sacrifices they’ve had to make since the initial outbreak.

“It’s been challenging, very challenging. It's difficult. It's sad,” Norman said. “We try to do as much as we can in house with our residents.”

Norman said they were finally able to reopen their dining area in December. Prior to that, staff delivered meals to residents. She said having the central meeting area was sorely missed and having it back will make a big difference.

“That socialization piece wasn't there at first, and that's huge for these guys. They have to have it,” Norman said.

Primrose is currently allowing scheduled visits with a maximum of two visitors at a time. Social distance and ace coverings are required. Norman said their staff have maintained open communication with the residents and their families. She said their team members across all the departments have gone above and beyond since the onset of the pandemic.

“Everybody plays a role in keeping our building safe… I'm not saying we don't have our issues, but when it comes down to it, people stepped up to the plate,” Norman said. “One of Primrose’s values is to embrace change.”