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Felisa, Teresa and Josefa make crafts in the common room of the residence. At another table, Rosa and Emilia carry out another fine motor skills activity, while on the other side of the room, two other elderly people watch television sitting in an armchair. The life of the elderly in the residences is gradually returning to normal once they have been immunized against the covid, already with the new regulations of actions for the prevention and control of the coronavirus in residential social services centers adapted to the framework of vaccination, somewhat more lax in terms of restrictions but still far from a true precovid normality.
“That day will come when they can hug with their relatives, but for now inside the center they have to maintain a safe distance even if they are vaccinated. We can no longer control what they do outside when they go out for a walk ”, acknowledges María José Lassalle, director of the Ballesol nursing home in Burjassot.
With the new protocols of the Ministry of Equality and Inclusive Policies and the Ministry of Health, family visits have been made more flexible regardless of the degree of incidence of the municipality in which the residence is located, as long as it is a center with full vaccination – with 95% of workers and residents immunized. Thus, there is no longer a limit of family members per resident who can come to visit him at the center, nor do they have to be cohabiting.
Family meetings continue to be held by appointment and the regulations establish that “they should preferably be kept in open spaces and following hygiene and protection measures.” “Now they all come to see me, even more than before all this,” says Francisco Martín, a 75-year-old resident, jokingly.
The isolation in their rooms and not being able to relate to other companions in the residence had many residents mired in deep sadness. “Although we have tried to stay active at all times, they needed more social interaction. Now they are much more receptive, “argues Ana Moret, a psychologist at the Burjassot senior center.
“I had no one to play dominoes with, I have been bad at it,” admits Francisco, who for a few weeks has returned to recover his “gambling in the garden.” “We set up our private parties,” he adds, referring to his parties with Nieves, Concha and Paco. Although he is not entirely satisfied. “They don’t let us play between floors and on the third floor there is no one who knows how to play chess, which is my thing, the only one who knew died”, laments the old man.
A radical life change
Although restrictive measures have been relaxed in residences, life for them after the pandemic has changed radically. “We note that the fact of being vaccinated gives us more security, but bubble groups continue to be maintained, they are separated into cohorts to eat and carry out activities, we must not lower our guard,” clarifies the director of the Ballesol residence.
With 99% vaccination in the center – only one resident is unvaccinated due to allergies – “the feeling of security in the face of COVID is enormous and that is seen on a day-to-day basis,” Lassalle explains. “Before they were very cautious even when it came to touching objects,” he recalls.
The focus for more than a year of the pandemic has been on residences, as they are closed spaces in which people who are especially vulnerable to the effects of the virus coexist due to their age and their multiple pathologies. A total of 2,106 people have lost their lives due to covid in senior centers in the Region. However, in the residences they assure that the residents really felt safer inside the center than the elderly who have lived alone in their homes during the months of isolation. “Here I have not lacked anything, thank goodness I did not have to go shopping,” says Josefa, 87 years old.
In addition, the centers have tried to maintain the routine of each resident with activities in the gym and work with professionals; with psychologists, sociocultural assistant technicians and physiotherapists. At the Ballesol residence they also have music therapy, very positive for residents with cognitive difficulties during confinement.
The situation in centers that have had to suffer the loss of several of their residents, such as the Santa Elena de Torrent residence, the first in the province where a major outbreak was detected in March 2020, has radically changed in one year. For them, being able to go out for a walk with their relatives, after months with hardly any contact and seeing that many of their colleagues are no longer because of the covid, the new regulations have been an injection of vitality.
“It was taking her out for a walk and her face changed. Now she is always singing, it is her way of saying that she is happy, “says Josep after visiting his 90-year-old grandmother Gloria with Alzheimer’s problems. “He is very happy to see us, the other day he recognized us all”, this family member who had to live the uncertainty of not knowing if his grandmother would overcome the massive outbreak of Santa Elena, remarks with enthusiasm.
Group outings and excursions to carry out activities outside the residences have also been an important incentive for residents. This same week at the Savia de Cheste residence, the elderly went out to do a workshop in a nearby nursery where they saw insect shelters and planted seeds for a future without covid.
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