To protect our community from any potential spread of COVID-19 or the flu, we are currently restricting all visitation, including families. Exceptions will be made for essential healthcare providers and unique situations.
Call (734)484-4740 if you have any questions. Thank you for your understanding. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Vibrant Life Communities
To protect our community from any potential spread of COVID-19 or the flu, we are currently restricting all visitation, including families. Exceptions will be made for essential healthcare providers and unique situations.
Call (734)484-4740 if you have any questions. Thank you for your understanding. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Vibrant Life Communities
VIBRANT LIFE SENIOR LIVING, SUPERIOR
FAMILY CORONAVIRUS UPDATE #3
3-15-2020
Dear Vibrant Life Residents and Families,
These are certainly trying times for all of us in Michigan and this country. We are in the midst of this unprecedented COVID -19 pandemic, and each day brings a different way of life for us all, as well as guidelines from the governments as to how we care for your loved one. As you know, we are at the front lines of this crisis, as our seniors, especially over the age of 80 and/or with other health conditions, are very, very vulnerable.
We will get through this. I am extremely confident about that. I am confident because we have excellent management teams, dedicated staff, wonderful residents and loving families. All of us are in this together, and we will get through it. Together. I especially want to acknowledge our incredible staff. They have met the challenge of the last week, and I’m sure will meet the challenges we face in the coming weeks.
I also want you to know that we at Vibrant Life care about You, the families – spouses, children, and grandchildren – as well as our residents. We know this has to be extremely difficult for all of you, knowing your loved ones are in a situation where you cannot help, and you cannot be there to hug them, you cannot be there to reassure them. We understand. We are trying to be creative and find ways you can still connect with your loved ones, which I will be discussing below.
We want you to know that at Vibrant Life we are doing EVERYTHING to keep caring for our residents in a loving way, keeping their spirits up and creating as much joy as possible, while following the guidelines the State has given us to mitigate the transmission of the virus and keep our residents and staff safe.
NO RESIDENT HAS SHOWN SIGNS OF CONTRACTING THE ILLNESS, AND NO ONE HAS BEEN SENT TO THE HOSPITAL OR BEEN TESTED AS A RESULT OF THE VIRUS.
Up to this point, at all four of our Vibrant Life Communities, NO RESIDENT HAS SHOWN SIGNS OF CONTRACTING THE ILLNESS, AND NO ONE HAS BEEN SENT TO THE HOSPITAL OR BEEN TESTED AS A RESULT OF THE VIRUS. We also have had very few incidents of Influenza at our communities. We sincerely hope this continues but are realistic to know that probably will not be the case.
Last week, per government guidelines, we first instituted restrictive guidelines for visitors. Then, a few days later we instituted total visitor restrictions, except for extreme mitigating situations. This weekend, the State and federal government have imposed even further restrictions on us. Our goal has been to implement these guidelines while continuing our mission of helping people have as good a quality of care and life as possible.
There are FOUR MAIN AREAS we are going to focus on. They are:
- FOLLOWING STRICTER GUIDELINES FOR MONITORING THE HEALTH OF RESIDENTS AND STAFF.
There are many guidelines and suggestions given to us, on virtually a daily basis, from State and National Agencies, such as the Governor’s office, CDC (Center for Disease Control), CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid) as well as NCAL and MCAL (National and Michigan Center’s for Assisted Living), our state trade association. This week we are implementing the following:
- Taking the temperature daily of all residents and monitoring each person’s health;
- Taking temperatures of each person, staff, or medical professional, who enters each Lodge;
- Monitoring the health of our health care providers continually. At the first sign of any illness, they are sent home.
- Monitoring whether any staff has people sick in their homes. If necessary, we ask them to stay home as well.
- Our Company has provided for PTO and other provisions so that the people who work here can stay home when they are sick, and not have to worry about receiving their paycheck. The Federal Government is helping out with this as well.
- FURTHER MITIGATING THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS BY FOLLOWING STRICTER MOVEMENTS OF STAFF, RESIDENT AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN THE BUILDINGS, REDUCING PERSONAL CONTACT;
- We are following strict guidelines by the Governor, State, and National officials by not allowing any non-medical visitors into our buildings at any time, with a few exceptions for those dealing with end-of-life issues, and other absolutely necessary reasons.
- This is now may include Executive Directors, HR, and reception staff, and other non-caregivers who will be working from home electronically. Each Executive Director will make those decisions of whom they deem absolutely necessary to keep our buildings running and residents safe.
- Some of our activity programming has been provided by outside persons – performers, students, family members, persons from the community, all coming in to help us be a real community, not just an “old age home” from the past. We have had to eliminate all of these persons from now coming into our community. Instead, we are now re-upping the efforts of all of our team- our Life Enrichments staff, CareFriends, and all other staff to engage in stimulating activities to keep our residents engaged. (See
more below). - Per guidelines and sometimes beyond, we give a series of questions to each person who enters each Lodge. These questions concern their health, who they have been in contact with, whether they have been traveling, and where. We also will be taking the temperature of each person who enters each building at any time.
- We are further limiting the interactions of our staff with our residents; Staff is more contained in each of our Lodges. Residents and staff are not moving from Lodge to Lodge.
- Per guidelines, we are further restricting communal dining. This will be very difficult. We do not want to isolate the people who live here from each other, as this is a crucial part of their well-being. We are currently working on a protocol for that. Most likely we will be having people eat at their own tables, further from each other, and possibly have a staggered meal schedule. We will be creative to continue making mealtime a pleasant experience. We’ll put music on and engage in lively conversation.
- We are restricting Life Enrichment large group activities. We have been asked to restrict larger groups and communal activities. We will be having more individual and small group activities. And even during these activities, people will be at a distance from each other. We will be having many more one on one activities.
We are currently brainstorming different ways in which to keep our residents involved. Phone calls and video chats with families will be crucial. We will use our technology as best we can. If any of you have creative ideas on helping to keep our residents active and connected, please let us know!
- DEALING WITH THE MENTAL HEALTH OF OUR RESIDENTS, STAFF, AND FAMILY, AS A RESULT OF THE INCREASE IN ISOLATION.
Despite these protocols and restrictions, we understand that everyone’s mental health is equally as important as physical health. We will be doing everything we possibly can to keep up everyone’s spirits! Some of these items are:
- Educating the staff that mental health is as important as physical health
- Having Carefriends and all staff be more involved with residents, understanding the importance of those relationships (while keeping six feet away!)
- Lots of engaging activities
- Lots of singing! And Music! And Stories!
- Using technology for communication and entertainment. We will be using websites, webinars and other online communication tools to help keep our residents engaged.
- If family members are feeling lonely or depressed, please call us. We have professionals who can talk with you as well. We can come up with solutions to help you stay as engaged as possible with your loved ones at Vibrant Life and others as well.
- INCREASING OUR COMPANY COMMUNICATIONS WITH OUR FAMILIES, AND INCREASING OUR VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN FAMILIES AND RESIDENTS. YOU CAN NOW VIDEO-CHAT WITH YOUR LOVED ONE.
We are using all our resources to increase our technology in our buildings to make it easier to video-chat between families and residents. iPhone users can Facetime now, and in some communities, this will be shown on big-screen TV’s. We are working on our Android video-chatting. We can also skype as well. At our Vibrant Life Superior campus, and soon on other campuses, we have a program called Independa, where
families can chat on your laptop and residents can see you on a big screen TV. This is a wonderful program. Call us at your campus for a username and password.
Further, for those interested, this program can also be put on each person’s individual TV. The resident needs no computer skills. There is just one simple button on a remote they would need to click. Contact us if you’d like us to set that up.
Phone calls and Video-chatting are excellent ways to keep connected to your loved one. PLEASE CALL US AT YOUR COMMUNITY AND WE WILL BE SETTING UP INDIVIDUAL APPOINTMENTS FOR VIDEO-CHATTING.
Vibrant Life Superior phone: (734) 484-4740
Finally, please self-quarantine as much as possible. We want to keep you healthy as well. I strongly urge all of you, especially over the age of 65 and/or with any medical conditions, to severely limit your social contact over the next few weeks. Bunker down at home and do some of those projects you’ve been wanting to do for years. Write some letters. Organize your photos. Please limit your social activities to only the most essential ones.
We will be emailing, texting and calling you with updates. See our website below for daily updates as we deal with this situation. Our goal is to keep you informed.
Again, thank you all for what you do. This may be one of the most challenging times in our lives. We know how difficult this must be for all of you. Our dedicated staff will do everything in our power to keep your loved ones safe, cared for and engaged. And remember, we also are here for you as well. We’ll get through this together.
Thank you,
Your Vibrant Life Senior Living Team
Essential Visitor Protocol
Vibrant Life Communities currently are limiting entrance to their senior communities to only staff, essential health care providers, very limited family interaction (family members who have an actively passing loved one) and other limited exceptions. Every visitor who is allowed in the community should observe the following
protocol.
- Check-in with the designated Staff Member at the front desk.
- Answer the following questions:
- Do you have any symptoms of the flu – cough, cold, shortness of breath
- Have you been in contact with anyone with flu symptoms
- Have you been in contact with anyone who has or is being tested for the COVID – 19 virus
- Have you flown in an airplane in the last 14 days
- Have you been in a foreign country in the last 14 days
- Have you been in any other senior communities in the last 14 days
- Have you been in any other senior communities where they have had a current outbreak of the flu or COVID – 19
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, they should not be allowed into the community. Health Care workers who have been in other communities but there is no outbreak may be allowed entrance. They must adhere to the following precautions:
- Wash hands before and after entry and exit to community and each interaction with a resident
- Follow Universal Precautions
- Use Mask, gowns, and PPE (personal protection equipment) when visiting or caring for a person under quarantine
Pharmacy Med Drop-Off and Fed-Ex Urine Protocol
- Call beforehand
- Ring the bell
- Wait for staff
- A staff member will step into the vestibule or outside, pick up meds, and sign.
Other Contractors and Deliveries
- Contractors call the appropriate number listed on the front door
- Designated Staff will instruct where to drop off items
- Contractor not to enter the building and to avoid contact with residents and all staff but the receiving person