My Return To Volunteering In The Midst Of COVID-19

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I’m back!

For those of you who are new to my site, I’m returning from a 40-day break from blogging. I felt a need for this break after a fire destroyed the nursing home where I volunteered for the past six years. (You can learn the details in this post.)

I’ve used this time to consider the future of my blog and to explore new volunteer opportunities. Today, I’m happy to report that I’m now volunteering at another local nursing home.

Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, volunteers aren’t able to have direct contact with residents. My current assignment involves screening staff when they arrive at work to ensure they show no signs of coronavirus. I’m eager to take part in activities with the residents once they lift the social distancing rules.

During my 40-day blogging break, I’ve kept in touch with a variety of people who work and volunteer in senior living communities. Their creativity and positivity astound me during this challenging time.

Today I’m sharing what many of these dedicated caregivers are doing to support their residents and co-workers in the face of COVID-19. I hope you’ll find these suggestions helpful, too! (Social distancing rules vary from place to place, so you may need to adapt these ideas to your specific situations.)

Outdoor Entertainment

Even if residents can’t leave their rooms, you can arrange a variety of entertainment outside of their buildings. These are a few of the activities they’ll enjoy watching and listening to through their windows:

• Ballet
• String instruments
• Bagpipes
• Antique car parade
• Irish dance
• Singing

Animal Visits

I love seeing pictures of the delighted expressions on residents’ faces when an animal visits them from outside their window. There are many possibilities, including:

• Therapy dogs
• Horses
• Llamas
• Potbelly pigs

Hallway Activities

Survey your staff, and I’ll bet you’ll discover lots of hidden talents. Ask if they’ll take a few minutes to entertain residents in the hallway with a guitar, harp, flute, portable keyboard, or a vocal solo.

Get a group of staff together (6 feet apart) and surprise residents with a hallway flash mob. You may wish to do the chicken dance, hokey pokey, or a line dance.

With residents sitting or standing in their doorways, they can still take part in lots of activities:

• Race remote control cars
• Practice golf skills on a mini putting green
• Enjoy a group exercise class
• Take part in a doorway sing-a-long
• Hallway bowling

Activities For Children

Many residents miss visits from their grandkids and other children. And the kids miss the elders, too! These are a few ways you can help them stay connected:

• Invite children to draw pictures and write encouraging notes on the sidewalk outside the nursing home using sidewalk chalk.
• Use painter’s tape to make tic-tac-toe boards on windows, then encourage kids and residents to get involved in some friendly competition.
• Ask families to make cards for residents celebrating a special occasion like a birthday or a wedding anniversary. Or, they can make general cards for any resident who needs a boost.
• Arrange for residents to read to children over FaceTime or Skype. Or, children can keep up their skills by reading to the residents.

Volunteers

Are you a volunteer like me who can’t have direct contact with residents during this pandemic? We can still support the residents and staff. Here’s how:

• Window visits
• Create encouraging signs for the nursing home yard
• Cheer and clap for employees when they arrive at work or leave work
• Offer to sew cloth masks for staff

Now it’s your turn. I would love to hear what you’re doing to support your residents and each other during this pandemic. Please share your ideas in the comment section!