Shelby Hautala
Special to Niagara Now/The Lake Report

With COVID-19 restricting our lives for the past year, one Niagara family has turned a negative situation into a joyful one.

When the Niagara Long Term Care Residence had a major outbreak of COVID and all residents were isolated in their rooms, Judy Bennett and her family decided to take things outside.

Bennett and her sister Elaine Dick decided it was time for a family gathering outside the room of their mother, a COVID-19 survivor.

“In all these months of COVID restrictions keeping us from visiting our loved ones in long-term care, it was such a joy to see my mom, Deleen Priddle, connecting and laughing with her family through her window,” says Bennett.

In photos taken from inside their mother's room, “You can see her enjoying watching her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren playing in the snow.”

After recovering from COVID, Priddle, who is 86, was struck with pneumonia.  After that, the nursing home staff noticed she was getting socially depressed and video calling was not enough. Priddle also has dementia.

“Coping with dementia is hour by hour and especially hard for those with dementia who cannot fully understand the isolation restrictions or dangers of the virus,” says Bennett.   

“Although we have had many telephone calls and virtual Skype/Zoom calls with her, it is not the same as being there in person,” she says.

“With each call we would hear her repeatedly ask when we were coming to see her, when we were going to take her for a drive, when was she going to be able to eat in the dining room with the others again, when can we take her out for coffee.”

That made the family realize they needed to do a window visit to give her a reason to get out of bed, says Bennett. It was a great success and so far, they've repeated it about eight to 10 times, Bennett says.

Although the Niagara Long Term Care Residence does not have a lot of window visits because of the cold temperatures, says executive director Chris Poos, this family had a great time playing in the snow with their family while putting a smile on their grandmother’s face.The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren range in age from two to 67 years old.

“It changed her whole perspective of caring to get out of bed. She was thrilled to see the children playing in the snow and being able to talk to them at the same time with the use of cellphones,” Bennett says.

“She was laughing, telling the staff who the little ones were, and talked one-on-one with each grandchild and great-grandchild,” she says. “The window visit gave her a purpose to get out of bed, to take in the sunshine through the window, to care about her appearance, to be able to brag about her family to the staff and to laugh again.”

While the kids were playing in the snow, other residents in the building were also able to enjoy it as they looked out their window and waved to the children. Now, the family knows how to make a visit fun and cheerful for all the residents, her daughter says.

When her sister Elaine visits at the window, “she brings something along to make it fun.  When all the great-grandchildren were there, she brought funny hats for them all to wear. She also brought a gigantic helium heart balloon that said 'Hugs” on it,” says Bennett.

The COVID outbreak at the facility was declared over by public health last Sunday, Poos said.

“Through the outbreak, we were in regular contact with families … This consistent communication through emails, phone calls, and virtual town halls allows families to feel connected to the home and their loved ones,” he told The Lake Report.

“I believe this helped with alleviating any concerns the family members may have been experiencing.”

Although families cannot see their loved ones in person, the residence is helping residents to have virtual contact using phones or iPads.

Bennett notes, “We are encouraged and fortunate to be able to schedule telephone and virtual visits with the residents very frequently through their recreational director. We talk to our mom a few times a week this way and are able to arrange the window visits whenever we have asked to.”

She says the family is happy they have found a way to entertain, visit and connect with their mother.

“Even a short visit of this nature has brought joy to her and the other residents.”