Generally, Lacking Historical Context Coming Into a New Situation
One of the interesting limitations of starting at a senior living facility is meeting residents where they are, without any historical context of their mental health, emotional health, or physical health. True, one could talk to people and gain a familiarity with how healthy they were prior to starting in that position, but it is not part the chaplain’s experience with the person at that time.
COVID-19 Lockdown Serving as My Baseline for Understanding and Knowing the Residents
The lack of historical context is something that is all the more curious having begun this chaplaincy amidst the COVID-19 lockdown. One thing I hear about certain residents is how much the lockdown and isolation have exacerbated their dementia. It’s a really tough thing to hear, as they may be able to leave their rooms and perambulate around the grounds of the senior living facility’s campus, but otherwise remain socially isolated (unless they write notes or call friends (or, for the minority of residents, FaceTime or Zoom with family)), mostly either staying in bed all day and/or watching television. Of course, there is widespread depression, which is acutely felt in the assisted living side, less so on the independent living side, and the least felt on the healthcare units, but still noticeable on certain units moreso than other units.
Catalyzing Concerns
Another thing that I had heard was that the rate of death was higher than pre-pandemic – not because any residents had died of COVID-19, but because of the lockdown, stoppage of programming, and the social isolation causing them to worsen. Furthermore, when there is a COVID-19 case on the floor and residents are really not permitted to leave their rooms, much less their unit/floor, then, as one resident put it to me, their rooms are “their cages” or “cells”. I can’t imagine that it helps their situation.
Looking Forward to Post-Lockdown
For me as a chaplain, I don’t have that kind I don’t have the prior context to know how the residents functioned pre-lockdown, as I have only known them in this era, which is my baseline for knowing who they are and how they function. It would be really fascinating for to see when the lockdown is lifted and the Coronavirus is no longer a problem on the horizon to see residents’ mentally, emotionally, and/or physically improve, which would be a really fascinating phenomenon. Until then, of course, there will still be limitations on what takes place in this facility. How much longer the safeguards will be in place and how much further decline in the mental, emotional, and physical health of the residents remain to be seen.