Woodland Villa’s new safe visitation patio is proving to be a big success

‘We have had nearly every day booked with families who have been able to visit their loved ones’

Woodland Villa’s revamped patio, which is fitted with a wood and Plexiglas barrier to allow the Long Sault, Ont. long-term care home’s residents to have safe visits with their loved ones during the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, has been booked solid since opening May 27.

“Our visiting area has been working out wonderfully,” administrator Janna Sabourin tells The OMNIway.

“We have had nearly every day booked with families who have been able to visit their loved ones.”

Janna, life enrichment co-ordinator Lisa Doran and maintenance manager Tim Partridge designed and built the wood, Plexiglas and plastic wrap barrier at the front of the home’s patio for residents to safely sit behind so they can visit with family members on the other side of the barrier.

The barrier has a wooden frame with sections of Plexiglas for windows, some of which are covered with see-through plastic wrap that Janna and Lisa have decorated with artwork.

The patio visits have been limited to 30 minutes at a time and are supervised by staff members, Janna notes.

Janna, members from Woodland’s Behavioural Supports Ontario team and life enrichment staff members have been sharing supervision responsibilities.

Woodland Villa, along with OMNI Health Care’s other 17 long-term care homes, is closed to everyone but essential visitors to protect residents and team members during the pandemic.

Since residents and their families have been missing their regular visits since March, the new patio design has been filling a much-needed void, Janna says, adding family members have provided lots of positive feedback.

“The residents have been overwhelmed with joy for the majority of the visits as well,” Janna says.

“It has been very amazing to be a part of this joy that they are experiencing. I am very happy to be able to offer this type of visiting for our residents.”

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