Friends of Skylark:
The Skylark Day Centers have REOPENED!
It’s all about Masks, Social Distancing, and Screening. It’s all about Fun, Engagement, and Health.
We’ve had a tremendous reopening. Like many adult day centers across the nation, we started with a soft opening and had a small group at each center. Each week, we’ve welcomed more returning members to the center. Throughout the pandemic, new families have been calling us and seeking us out. Our new members have quickly become new friends.
We’re adding additional days in October. Keep an eye open for future announcements.
What does the day look like?
We start each day with a screening. And a greeting. We ask questions of our Members and their families. It’s the new normal that we’ve all become accustomed to: warm greetings with a mask.
The Day begins with breakfast and conversation. We move to exercise and exploring positive current and historical events. We’ve been going on nature walks and completing fun, challenging activities.
We’re glad to report that our Members have figured out how to keep their masks on. We were worried about this, but they have adjusted nicely.
Behind the scenes, we’re busy keeping the centers clean, washing hands, and sanitizing as often as we can.
Enjoy this quick video. We’re aiming to replicate the feel of it, but with masks and social distancing:
The Challenge for Care Partners
At Skylark, we like to think of ourselves as partners with our Members and their loved ones as they navigate this season of life.Fran Weigard, our director of New Member Services, heard a physician say that he and his colleagues were noticing about 12 months of normal decline in their Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients during the first 3 months of the pandemic. It’s certainly what we’ve been hearing.
We’ve heard about significant declines which are requiring a nursing home placement or significantly more ongoing nursing care. We’ve heard about families enjoying more togetherness, but that their loved ones need more social and physical engagement.
Home Care
We hope all our families will try out Skylark Home Care. We’ve had great success bringing in new families and serving current members in a new way.
It’s exciting to see Skylark Home Care grow. We think it will help us become even better at achieving our mission: Inspiring Freedom, Hope, and Joy in our Elders and Those Who Love Them.
If you’re interested please contact Fran Weigard on her cell 404-617-5851, by email at fweigard@skylarkseniorcare.com, or the main number 404-410-1510.
Safety:
As we have talked with our members and families, safety is top of mind. We want to keep our members healthy, safe, and strong. COVID-19 is a difficult challenge. Please know we have been working steadily on this. We have learned more about how to meet these challenging times by considering recommendations from the CDC, the Georgia Department of Health, Governor Kemp’s executive orders, our attorney, and our insurance companies. There’s a lot of information and almost none of it directly discusses adult day. While we will continue to improve our efforts, let me share some current thoughts:
- Testing: We will ask Members to test prior to returning to the center. Both CDC and the Georgia Department of Public Health emphasize using a symptom- and time-based strategies for return after sickness and in a return to work. CDC has identified several issues with relying too much on negative test results for return to work situations.
- Screen all Members and Associates: This will include taking temperatures and asking questions about symptoms daily. Those not meeting the standards of the screening will need to stay home. We will recommend that the individual see their physician to determine next steps. We know that a fever may indicate COVID-19 or a sinus infection or something else. We will follow the physician’s directions for the resumption of service to include possible self-quarantine.
- Personal Protective Equipment: All Members and Associates will wear masks at the center. Our Associates will wear a mask in the home. Different levels of PPE will be required depending on care provided and the proximity of the Member and Associate.
- Social Distancing: We expect to run our programs while respecting social distancing needs. We will manage our daily programs differently to allow for distancing.
- Sanitizing/Disinfecting: Before closing we began sanitizing the centers on a regular basis. We have been working hard to improve our infection control policies. We are confident that we can keep the centers clean and safe for our members.
- Visitors: Visiting will be severely limited beyond the front reception areas.
