What to expect: Dad has Covid in care home and is isolated

[Pipples]

I found out 2 days ago that Dad has tested positive- he's in a room by himself with staff bringing food once a day. I know he will ve confused and distressed but wonder what staff could/should be doing to help (other than leaving a TV on 24/7)... I am aware that they can't provide exclusive care, and they're short-staffed anyway. Since he moved in 6 months ago, there have been no activities, although of course I haven't been able to witness anything for myself. I just can't stop thinking about how he must be feeling - at least he had other residents to talk to before. I'm going over today with treats and a new, labelled photo album. What else can I do?

 

[MartinWL]

Alas not much more you can do unless your dad is able to use a smartphone tablet or laptop which would enable video chat. Isolation is isolation and very hard for anyone. Keep sending letters, cards, photographs etc.

 

[canary]

What about sending him cards or postcards so that he can see them and get the carers to read them (over and over!)? He will then have a constant reminder that you are thinking of him.

I do hope that he has a mild version of covid
xx

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

I very much hope he's getting food/drink more than once a day - that is totally unacceptable! They have a duty of care to look after him properly, covid or not.

 

[Lynmax]

Last year mum also tested positive for Covid and was confined to her room. As far as I know, obviously I could not see her, carers were popping in several times a day to check on her, do regular medical checks, help with personal care etc and spent time chatting to her while there. I’m sure your dad gets more than just one visit a day, he must get more meals and drinks surely? At mums home they have an activities coordinator and during the lockdown she went and had one to one time with the isolated residents, just to chat and maybe read with them or watch tv.

We had already taken in a DVD player for mum to watch football games on so when she had Covid ( luckily very mild) we provided more dvds of other sporting events and a few films - she didn’t mind watching the same things over and over but the carers got fed up!

Mum was also still able to read so we organised delivery of her own daily newspaper for a few weeks as she was missing looking through the ones kept in the lounge.

Photos were not helpful for her without someone to look at them with her as she needed reminders of who people were and where they were taken etc. However, the home asked me to write a lengthy detailed account of all her interests and life as a child and mother so they could engage her in conversation about school, early working life, holidays etc. I added a few photos to the account to help the carers engage with mum.

I have to be honest, I don’t really know how mum coped with isolation as obviously I never saw her ( still not actually been inside the home since she moved there in April 2020!) but once our visits started again, she did not appear to have changed much.

 

[Pipples]

Alas not much more you can do unless your dad is able to use a smartphone tablet or laptop which would enable video chat. Isolation is isolation and very hard for anyone. Keep sending letters, cards, photographs etc.

Thanks, will do that ?

 

[Pipples]

What about sending him cards or postcards so that he can see them and get the carers to read them (over and over!)? He will then have a constant reminder that you are thinking of him.

I do hope that he has a mild version of covid
xx

The carers don't spend time with him, unfortunately... They say he is "ok" when I call

 

[Pipples]

Last year mum also tested positive for Covid and was confined to her room. As far as I know, obviously I could not see her, carers were popping in several times a day to check on her, do regular medical checks, help with personal care etc and spent time chatting to her while there. I’m sure your dad gets more than just one visit a day, he must get more meals and drinks surely? At mums home they have an activities coordinator and during the lockdown she went and had one to one time with the isolated residents, just to chat and maybe read with them or watch tv.

We had already taken in a DVD player for mum to watch football games on so when she had Covid ( luckily very mild) we provided more dvds of other sporting events and a few films - she didn’t mind watching the same things over and over but the carers got fed up!

Mum was also still able to read so we organised delivery of her own daily newspaper for a few weeks as she was missing looking through the ones kept in the lounge.

Photos were not helpful for her without someone to look at them with her as she needed reminders of who people were and where they were taken etc. However, the home asked me to write a lengthy detailed account of all her interests and life as a child and mother so they could engage her in conversation about school, early working life, holidays etc. I added a few photos to the account to help the carers engage with mum.

I have to be honest, I don’t really know how mum coped with isolation as obviously I never saw her ( still not actually been inside the home since she moved there in April 2020!) but once our visits started again, she did not appear to have changed much.

Thanks. I think the standard of care is not good even outside of a pandemic, it just breaks my heart