Seniors at Clearview Lodge in Taber are going viral for a video, showing residents having fun and keeping busy during quarantine.
“We were happy to do it,” said resident Delores Bolen.
“It shows them that with a lot of hard work… everybody can be kept well, and we are. We’re all kept well in here.”
The residents of the lodge never intended for the video to blow up like it has.
“We got a thousand hits, we got 2,000 hits, and now we’re up over 3,000 hits and it’s just amazing,” Lodge manager Joan Hart said.
Staff members started the project to connect residents with their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We made it so that their families would know that they are well and that they are being kept active,” recreation co-ordinator Viola Wall said.
“We’re sanitizing everything, there’s a lot of bleach around here.”
As visitors aren’t allowed in to see the seniors during the outbreak, the last couple of weeks have been difficult for residents.
“I just want to let them know that I love them dearly, and I miss them,” Bolen said as a message to her family on Thursday.
“My granddaughter works at the hospital and she said: ‘Tell grandma that she’s supposed to wash her hands lots and sanitize them!’”
Lodge manager Joan Hart said she’s always been a stickler for hygiene at the centre because she understands the importance of it — especially during a pandemic.
“It’s pretty powerful,” Hart said.
“I know I’ve had a few people upset with me because I’m being pretty stringent with the rules. We’ve had only one outbreak in probably eight years.”
Along with regular cleaning, staff have been busy sanitizing surfaces and enforcing social distancing.
To help with entertainment during these uncertain times, the lodge has started doing recreation activities every day.
“They miss their families and so we just need to keep them busy and safe here,” Hart said.
The staff and residents of Clearview Lodge in Taber hope to inspire others with their message.
“With a little bit of creativity or a lot of creativity, you can find all kinds of things to do to keep busy and just hang in there together,” Wall said.
Hart added that the video has sparked an increase in applications to the lodge.
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