Keep in touch with loved ones living in nursing homes
Jan 11, 2012
When I was in college, my favorite time of day was when the mail arrived. Receiving mail made me feel that I was missed at home and that someone was thinking of me. In my experience, nursing home residents feel the same way. They want to know that someone is thinking about them.
There are many ways to keep in touch with loved ones living in nursing homes. Residents of nursing homes (also known as rehabilitation and skilled care centers) may have visitors any time of the day, per federal regulations. Most residents enjoy face-to-face visits over any other form of communication, but family members are often busy and cannot visit as much as they would like to.
If this is your situation, there are other ways to keep in touch.
Every nursing home has a private telephone for resident use. Some residents pay for a phone to be installed in their room or use their own cell phone. With phone use, remember to speak clearly from a room that is quiet. It can be very frustrating for a resident to attempt to have a phone conversation when his or her hearing is impaired. Another difficulty with phone use is finding the resident when he or she is available. Residents are often participating in activities, dining or receiving care. If you plan to speak to your loved one by phone, you may want to prearrange the date and time.
E-mail is popular among nursing home residents, and many centers have resident-designated computers. There are several online services that offer free e-mail addresses such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo. In most centers, it is part of the activity staff’s responsibilities to assist residents in using the computer.
Several Good Samaritan Society centers offer a Caregram program that allows friends and family to send messages and pictures to residents. Staff members print and deliver them. Residents may reply via hand-written notes, if they wish, and staff members scan them and e-mail them back. Click here to learn more about how the program works at Good Samaritan Society – Grand Island Village.
It’s Never 2 Late is a system that allows nursing home residents to access the Internet, play interactive games, watch classic TV shows, listen to favorite songs and create an electronic history of their lives through pictures and music. In addition, it has programs that encourage physical and mental exercise, and it also includes a Web cam, so residents can communicate with family and friends. Click here to learn more about how residents at Good Samaritan Society – Bismarck are using It’s Never 2 Late.
At Good Samaritan Society – West Union in Iowa residents and their loved ones videoconference via Skype. Click here to learn more.
Contact the nursing home where your loved one lives to find out if he or she has access to any of these, or similar, communication technologies.
Regardless of the method, it is important for your loved one to hear from you. Don’t feel like you have to have something important to say. Sometimes just simple chit chat can brighten the day. If you are interesting in learning more about what you might do during visits with your loved one, click here to read “How to make a visit count.”
By Mary Jo Ball, MSW
Manager, Resident Services
Click here to contact Mary Jo
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