Hello Everyone!

Welcome to our latest updates at Kamloops Seniors Village! Holy Smoke! (pardon the pun)….Where did the month of July go? Unfortunately it hasn’t been great weather for outside events, visits or activities, but thankfully, we were able to open up visitation parameters on July 19, 2021!  On behalf of the KSV Team, we would like to wish everyone a Happy BC Day Long Weekend!

 And with the Current Central Okanagan Outbreaks south of us in Kelowna, we remind everyone to remain aware & stay vigilant with their hand hygiene, PPE, and Social Distancing when you are out and about in the community in order to continue keeping everyone safe & KSV COVID Free!

 Please be kind, please be patient, and please be understanding when you continue to arrive for visitations as we transition to the new updates as outlined below.

VISITATION UPDATES

In March 2020, all long-term care homes and assisted living communities faced one of the biggest challenges of a lifetime, COVID-19.  Strict restrictions were placed on all communities to protect residents during the pandemic.

This meant immense sacrifices by residents, families and staff, all in efforts to keep loved ones safe and healthy.

Due to this, and all the efforts made in the community as a whole, including high first dose immunized rates the government started the BC Restart Plan, of which we are now in Phase 3 as of July 1, 2021. The government has also given the “green light” on revising and easing restrictions on visitation practices at our communities.

The following are the new guidelines are effective on July 19, 2021:

• All visitors (including unimmunized visitors) will no longer need to schedule or book in advance to visit loved ones, and the limit on the number of visitors for each resident will be removed.
• KSV Visiting hours will be now from 8AM-9PM daily, with all visitors exiting the building by 9 PM
• All visitors will be screened at the main entrance and be required to practices hand hygiene, wear a medical face mask and physical distancing when in common areas.
• A new medical face mask will be provided at the entrance for all visitors.
• Fully immunized visitors (those who have received their second dose at least 14 days prior to the visit) can visit with residents without wearing a mask when inside the resident’s room away from co-residents.
• Unimmunized visitors OR visitors that cannot provide their proof of vaccination card will be required to wear a face mask for the full duration of their visit including resident rooms.
• Larger, facility-wide social events or gatherings are safe to begin again once approval arrives from our health authority.
• Indoor gatherings may include residents and staff across units of a facility (not family/friends),
• Outdoor gatherings may include family and friends and residents and staff across units of a facility.
• A Reminder that visits must be in your loved one’s suite or in a designated outdoor area (Complex Residents has the RC Courtyard and Assisted-Independent Living has the Dining Room Patio). Visits are currently still prohibited in common indoor spaces.

The Provincial Health Office has provided additional guidance surrounding vaccinations:

• It is strongly recommended by Public Health that all visitors choose to get fully immunized against COVID-19 in order to lower the risk to seniors in long term care and assisted living settings.
• All long term care and assisted living facilities are to provide public health with information on all residents, staff, personal service providers and volunteers so their immunization status can be determined.
• Workers who are not fully immunized will be required to wear a medical mask at work and be tested for COVID-19 regularly using rapid tests (3 times a week) (unless directed otherwise by the health authority).
• Volunteers and personal service providers entering long term care and assisted living settings must be fully immunized.
• Each site will continue to maintain a sign in list for contact tracing purposes and actively promote adherence to all infection prevention and control protocols.

When being screened, every visitor will be asked to show proof of full COVID-19 immunization for both doses every time you come to KSV, so please get in the habit of always carrying your immunization card.  Showing either the immunization record card or your digital immunization card through Health Gateway.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding as we continue to work through these changes. We are looking forward to seeing and welcoming family back to the communities on a more regular basis.

Here is a brief summary of the new screening process:

1. Visitors arrive at KSV, and provided a medical grade mask to be worn in ALL COMMON AREAS and to/from the tenant/resident’s suite
2. Screening performed and temperature taken for all guests
3. Proof of Vaccination is Requested – provide proof of vaccination and documented on the new screening form
4. Visitors to additionally ‘Sign In & Out” in our visitor log at the Main Reception lower desk counter. Signing OUT is crucial so we are aware who is in and out of our building in the event of an emergency
5. We will be asking for support from family and friends when they are coming for their visits to go straight to the designated resident/tenant’s room they are visiting and leaving along the same accord. Common areas (excluding outside in the RC Courtyard) are still unavailable for visits at this time.
6. Proceed to your loved one’s room without an escort and exit the building by 9 PM. Complex Care friends & families will be provided the door codes if needed to exit both the neighbourhood and foyer.
7. Remember to SIGN OUT

Current Events: Recreation & Dining Programs

This week, we welcomed our new Therapeutic Recreation Manager, Kiara Janzen. She is eagerly getting to know our community, staff, and residents these last few days.  It’s great to have her aboard our KSV Leadership Team!

We are eagerly reviewing all the new changes to see how we can expand our recreation activities. We are planning to restart our Monthly Birthday Parties and Happy Hour events in August. Since these events are indoor, they are restricted to tenants & residents only. We look forward welcoming families back to our events when restrictions permit it.

Our tenants and residents will be enjoying Live Music this week leading up to the BC Day Long Weekend. Complex Care residents will be enjoying “Just 4 Fun” in our Multi Purpose Room due to the smoke, and Assisted-Independent Living tenants will enjoy the musical stylings of Angel Band. Our teams are busily planning events for the upcoming BC Day long weekend with Socials, “Travel BC through Film”, Afternoon High Tea and of course Nanaimo Bars!

We are also excited to be hosting the Hot Nite in the City Poker Run again on Friday, August 6, 2021. Our outdoor portion of the event will be dependent on smoke free skies and safe weather temperatures, so fingers crossed for a slightly windy day J. We do have an indoor back up plan so tenants can enjoy some music and take shorter trips outside to see the Classic Cars!

KSV becomes a stop along the Poker Run’s route for tenants and residents to enjoy seeing classic cars stroll through our parking lot! We make a night of it with Root Beer floats, popcorn, & musical entertainment with “Doug & Friends”. Cars start rolling through around 4:30 PM so tenants and residents come out following dinner! If skies are still smoky, we will bring the entertainment & treats inside!

We also resumed Communal Dining in the Assisted-Independent Living dining room a couple of weeks ago where we returned to 4 per table seating arrangements. Tenants are enjoying seeing and conversing with more friendly faces at meal times!

VIRTUAL VISITS

Even with the changes in visitations, we are continuing to provide scheduled virtual visits for residents & tenants with families from afar. Please reach out to our recreation team by e-mail at ksv-rec@retirementconcepts.com or call 250.571.1806 to set up a time via Skype or FaceTime. We will be happy to confirm a date and time to connect you with your loved-one.

EXTREME WEATHER SAFETY

 This week’s forecast has some hotter temperatures once again, so we advise everyone to stay safe, stay hydrated, and stay cool with adequate preparations. For our tenants, we recommend keeping blinds closed throughout the hottest part of the day and utilizing their Air Conditioners.

In addition, with the smoke advisories, we continue to utilize our 12 Air Scrubber machines to filter the incoming air and remove the smoke particles to keep our building safe and smoke free! In addition, we have our double filtration carbon filters in our Main Air Conditioners and we are changing the filters more regularly in lieu of the smoke!

During hot weather, we ensure staff, tenants and residents keep all suite windows closed & curtains drawn enabling the air conditioning to work most efficiently. We also have put out reminders to stay hydrated, limit outside exposures during the hottest parts of the day, and wear a hat, sunglasses and light clothing if going outside. We wish everyone a safe week ahead!

For families that might plan to take residents/ tenants out during hot weather, we encourage limited sun & smoke exposure outdoors, especially between 10:00 AM and 4:00PM. If outings cannot be postponed, please encourage & ensure your loved one is donning of light- colored, loose clothing, and a hat outdoors.

Please pay close attention to how those around you feel. Watch for symptoms of heat illness, which include: • dizziness or fainting; • nausea or vomiting; • headache; • rapid breathing and heartbeat; • extreme thirst (dry mouth or sticky saliva); and • decreased urination. If you or your loved one experiences any of these symptoms during hot weather, immediately move to a cool place and drink liquids. Water is best!

EVACUATION PROTOCOL REMINDERS

 In light of the continued fire activity around Kamloops, we wanted to remind you all of our evacuation protocol in the event we have to evacuate due to a nearby interface fire. This evacuation is known as a “Code Green.” Luckily we ran through our Code Green drill recently back in May 2021 with our Independent-Assisted Living tenants and our staff in Complex Care, so the information is fresh in our minds.

We are required to evacuate the building when we are notified of an “Evacuation Alert”, due to the number of people that live at KSV. This will hopefully give us more time to evacuate residents to safety. We do not stay and wait for the “`Evacuation Order” which would greatly reduce the amount of time we have to leave the building.

Our tenants have a checklist on the back of their door of the items to bring with them – an overnight bag with a few days worth of clothing, personal care items, important documents/ID, valuables, medications, incontinence products, and if applicable, their pet in a pet carrier. Our Complex Care staff will pack the needed items for all residents in Full Care as we prepare to evacuate.

We will all muster by floor/neighbourhood and use our local arranged resources for transportation to our designated evacuation centre (wherever that may be based on the current fire situation). Emergency food, water, and care supplies will accompany each bus. For families that can accommodate their loved one are encouraged to pick up and go to your residence in the interim, we just need to track everyone’s destination. We of course would provide communication to all families of the evacuation and provide necessary daily updates.

We remind our tenant families to have those evacuation discussions with your loved one in the event we are put on alert. Do you plan on taking your loved one to your house, or will they evacuate with us/KSV? Having these conversations ahead of time will help you all have a tentative plan in place.

We wish for everyone’s safety during this now too close to home fire season.

SOCIAL OUTINGS:

• For those on Complex Care, if you would like to take your loved one out of the building we request:
  • A minimum of 2 hours’ notice to ensure that your loved one is set up for success for their outing.
  • Please contact the nurse on your loved one’s floor to arrange the outing, and then you can come into the building, be screened & personally take your loved one out.
• For those on Independent-Assisted Living – remember tenants will need sign out prior to leaving for their outing and for extended visits, inform the AL team in the event they need medications
• Tenants and Residents continue to no longer require isolation upon returning from outside visits as of April 1, 2021

Complex Care Family Council

Kamloops Seniors Village’s Family Council is made available to Family Members of Complex Care residents. We invite new resident’s families to join the council, participate in the meeting, and provide a voice for your loved one! Meetings are held on the 4th Monday of every month via ZOOM during COVID, excluding December July and August. The Zoom link and minutes are sent out the week prior. The meetings are self-directed by the families with KSV Leadership present for support. Our next meeting is in September as we hold no meetings in the summer.

Deliveries and Drop-offs:

All deliveries will continue to be received at the front desk and will be sanitized, bagged and we will call the tenants &/or resident care staff to come and pick up their items right away.  Please ensure you label all items with a name and room number to ensure all packages are received as quickly as possible.

For floral deliveries, please ensure there are no LILIES in the arrangement for allergy precautions.

Reminders for your loved one to Stay Safe:

Please help us by reminding each resident daily of the following four items:

1. Practice social/physical distancing (6 feet apart) when required
2. Perform proper Hand Hygiene (Wash hands frequently for 20 seconds with the alcohol-based sanitizer or soap and hot water) 20 seconds or greater is so important.
3. Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
4. If exhibiting any symptoms (fever, cough and difficulty breathing) please alert staff immediately.

 We ask that families share this information with all parties you believe will be in contact with your loved one. We have all worked so hard together over the last year to keep COVID out of our building. Please remain diligent in your current practice to help keep our home a safe place.

Thank you all for your support and patience as we roll out this new visitation process.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

KAMLOOPS SENIORS VILLAGE “SUPPORT GROUP FOR CAREGIVERS AND LOVED ONES”

Our KSV Social Worker, Heather Morrison, B.S.W, has coordinated a Weekly Support Group for our KSV Community, that will be facilitated by a colleague enabling families and caregivers to connect with others, share information, learn communication tools for dementia, highlight the importance of self-care, as well as recognizing grief and loss. Caregivers can also learn on how to navigate “the system”, in addition to sharing successes and challenges that we all know everyone is facing.

The meetings will be held weekly on Wednesdays through the ZOOM platform. Please email Heather at ksv-socialworker@retirementconcepts.com to sign up or for more info.

SUPPORT & RESOURCES

As a caregiver, you are not alone and you what you do is incredible. As the Pandemic continues on, remember to take care of yourselves and get that much needed self-care and support.

Family CareGivers of BC and Provincial Agencies such as the Alzheimer’s Society have great resources and workshops to handle your loved ones diagnosis & offer support. Family CareGivers of BC also has a Caregiver Support Line for emotional support at 1-877-520-3267, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 7:00 pm.