YORK COUNTY, Pa. — A window is all that separates Kelly Skiptunas and her 89-year-old mother. Her mother, who suffers from dementia, lives at SpiriTrust Lutheran, The Village at Sprenkle Drive in Manchester Township, York County.
It has been more than 3 months since Skiptunas has seen her mother in person. SpiriTrust Lutheran nursing home just recently started to allow window visits. During each visit and video call, Skiptunas grows more concerned about her mom’s well-being.
“They’re really severely isolated and I just see my mom deteriorating,” said Skiptunas.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced visitation bans at long-term care facilities, like personal care and nursing homes. On June 12, York County turns green along with Adams, Beaver, Carbon, Columbia, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Northumberland, Union, Wayne and Wyoming counties.
Even in the least restrictive phase of Governor Tom Wolf’s reopening plan, the “no-visitor” policy at nursing homes remains in effect. Skiptunas wonders why in-person visits outside are not permitted.
“It’s been 13 weeks and we don’t feel like we’ve had many more answers than we’ve had way back in mid-March,” Skiptunas added. “Now that the county’s progressing into green, we don’t see any progress made in these nursing homes.”
Isolation is wearing on many residents in long-term care facilities. Doctor J.P. Shand, a psychiatrist with WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital, says loneliness can foster cognitive decline.
“There are definitely negative consequences to loneliness and social isolation, including elevated blood pressure, cortisol increases, disruption in sleep,” said Dr. Shand. “Those things alone will start having a toll on certain individuals who are lonely and isolated. The question is, how do we fix it?”
Dr. Shand suggests taking advantage of technology to stay connected. Share a story or fun memory over FaceTime and other video conferencing tools.
“Learning other people’s stories and then remembering those—that is one of the ways that the brain continues to march forward,” Dr. Shand explained.
Meanwhile, Skiptunas will continue to fight for in-person visits outside. She believes it can be done safely by wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
“I understand not wanting us in the buildings yet. It’s a little early for that because we don’t know what’s going to happen now with the green phase, but keeping them outside I think would go a long way to prevent that,” said Skiptunas. “We’ll sit across the table from her. Wear masks, do the social distancing, at least we’ll be face to face.”