ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — All one St. John’s family wants is to blow kisses to their mom through a window while holding a happy birthday sign, but they say the nursing home in which she is living won’t allow it.
The family, who asked not to be named, says their mother is turning 81 this weekend. A resident of Glenbrook Lodge, she is in poor health with a rare disease, and her children say it’s certain this will be the last birthday they will be able to celebrate with her.
Because of protective measures put in place by the province in response to the COVID-19 pandemic — which is particularly dangerous for elderly and immunocompromised people — visitors have been banned from all long-term care homes since March, meaning the family has been unable to see their mother in person since then. They say staff at the Glenbrook have done a great job at arranging plenty of FaceTime video calls with their mom, who is non-verbal, and they are very grateful.
"If they can facilitate FaceTime (calls), what’s the difference with a window visit?”
For their mom’s birthday, given the circumstances, the family was hoping to arrange a visit, with the nursing home’s administration allowing them to visit their mom with a happy birthday sign from outside a window. It’s something that some long-term care homes across the province have allowed over the past six weeks or so, recognizing the importance of familial contact and socialization to residents. Some facilities, like the privately run North Pond Manor in Torbay, have gone so far as to decorate a certain window as a designated “FaceTime” spot for visitors and residents, and have placed a chair outside especially for the purpose.
“Given that our mother is near the end of her life, we wanted to gather one last time as a family to celebrate her and hold a happy birthday sign outside a window while honouring physical distancing measures,” the woman’s daughter told The Telegram.
She says they were told by administrative staff at Glenbrook Lodge that it would be too disruptive, and if staff allowed such a visit for one family, they would have to allow it for everyone.
The family is wondering why that’s an issue.
“It’s a small nursing home and, honestly, how many requests have they received? If they can facilitate FaceTime (calls), what’s the difference with a window visit?” the woman’s daughter said.
On Monday, the nursing home’s executive director sent residents’ families a memo.
“We would ask that no window visits be planned and that any visits done be conducted by arranged virtual means,” the memo read, explaining the facility had been receiving a number of inquiries about what is acceptable when it comes to occasions like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
The memo also explained that letters and packages sent to residents could come through Canada Post only and would be held by the home for three days before being passed on to the recipient.
Glenbrook Lodge is one of five Eastern Health long-term care homes in St. John’s, where there are also privately run facilities. It’s not clear whether or not all Eastern Health facilities are allowing window visits.
Eastern Health acknowledged receipt of The Telegram's emailed request for comment and information Tuesday, but did not provide a response.
In reply to a question from The Telegram at the regular provincial government COVID-19 briefing Tuesday afternoon, Premier Dwight Ball and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said they are encouraging long-term care staff to facilitate things like window visits and video calls for residents.
“Certainly, we encourage social connection and that’s very important for people in long-term care and personal care homes,” Fitzgerald said. “So, we do encourage, still, that the operators of these homes would participate in some social connection with family members for their residents, absolutely.”
Ball noted the importance of banning visitors inside long-term care facilities in an effort to avoid the transmission of the novel coronavirus, and stressed the importance of the homes facilitating social contact for residents in other ways.
“We know that this affects mental health and we also know that mental health, for a lot of our seniors and most vulnerable, also affects their physical health. So it’s important we do everything we can to stay socially connected, even a phone call,” Ball said.
The family trying to facilitate a window visit with their mom for her birthday says she had been receiving daily visits from her husband and extended family members up until the public health crisis, and she is someone who got great joy from being surrounded by her loved ones.
“Now, being denied a window visit on her last birthday, in her final days, seems heartless,” her daughter said.
She said family members want to voice their concerns, not only for themselves but for other families affected by a no-window-visits policy.
“While we understand Eastern Health is trying to protect the residents' physical health, the quality of life is equally as important to their overall well-being. It’s unclear how a window visit could be harmful to the residents,” she said.
— With files from Peter Jackson
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
