By Jordan J. Phelan
[email protected]
UNITY — Residents at Sullivan County Health Care in Unity and Summercrest Senior Living Community in Newport are using the power of the pen to remain connected with the outside world.
Amid the global pandemic where self-quarantines, social distancing and stay-at-home orders have quickly become the new reality, sweeping isolation brought on by the novel coronavirus continues to impact millions of Americans across the nation. For older adults living in long-term care facilities, the impact is especially difficult.
Isolation is already a notable concern during normal operations for staff at senior living facilities. Now, combined with heightened levels of precaution that have led to, in part, restricted visitor access in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, the new mission is to help seniors stay in touch — and even make new friends.
That is when Rich Vanderweit, activity aide at Sullivan County Health Care, had the idea to begin a pen pal program with interested residents.
“We sat down and said, ‘This is going to be fun. We are going to have some pen pals.’ And we didn’t even have to explain,” Vanderweit said. “[Residents] said, ‘Really? We’re going to do that?’ And we just went with it.”
The concept quickly made its way to members of the staff, including Sullivan County Health Care Director of Activities Cheri Parkhurst who reached out to Barbara Rabtoy, activities director at Summercrest Senior Living Community, to gauge interest in the plan.
Barbara’s reply: “Yes.”
The two facilities immediately began reaching out to their respective residents and even paired some people together with shared thoughts on what they wished to write about.
“I think it’s just a great thing to do,” Rabtoy said. “By writing letters, it lets people express themselves. It gives [Summercrest residents] a sense of what is going on outside in their peer’s world and facility. And the same thing here. Our letters give [Sullivan County Health Care residents] a sense of what is going on here. I think this is the only way, except for the television, that they can express themselves and let other people know what is going on.”
For Gloria Stetson, a new resident at Summercrest Senior Living Community, the program provides much needed reassurance in a time plagued by uncertainty.
“I think there is something about taking the time to write a note to someone that money can’t buy. It’s something that a person cherishes,” she said. “So if we can do just some little thing to make a person’s day happier or give something else to think about, I think this is what we are here for. This is our job, to be able to bring sunshine into someone else’s life.”
A total of 21 people — 10 Sullivan County Health Care residents, nine Summercrest Senior Living Community residents, one out-of-state submitter and a local high school student — have participated in the program so far.
Both facilities greatly encourage letters from members of the community and see this program continuing well after the novel coronavirus pandemic is over.
“It’s a really nice thing for the community because here at Sullivan County Health Care it’s definitely a big family and it has been difficult for residents and their families,” Vanderweit said. “This takes a little bit of the scary out of the situation. I think this program forms a nice bridge between us and the community.”
“It would be hard not to [continue the program],” Parkhurst said. “The outpouring of support from the articles and the stories have been really well-received. We want to keep it going.”
“Oh, definitely. And I hope that more people from different facilities join in. And maybe we meet afterwards. It would be nice to visit our pen pals,” Rabtoy said. “There are always people waiting for letters in the mail.”
The joy of writing letters is not reserved to just seniors. If you would like to write to a resident, you may send letters to Sullivan County Health Care at this address:
To Resident
5 Nursing Home Drive
Unity, NH 03743
You may also send letters to residents at Summercrest Senior Living Community at this address:
Summercrest
Care of Resident
169 Summer Street
Newport, NH 03773
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