For residents at StoryPoint Chesterton, quality care is something they know they can always rely on. That goes for good times, and stressful times, like the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For over 37 years, our communities have been founded on providing the absolute best care for our residents. Without their trust in us, we wouldn’t be here today, and we are extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve them and create truly personalized experiences every single day,” said Irina Olgart, Director of Marketing at StoryPoint.
The entire team at StoryPoint Chesterton is working hard to ensure that residents and staff are healthy and safe.
“We understand times like this can feel unsettling. We want all of our residents, families, and employees to know that we are in this together, and we are fully prepared to navigate this ever-changing situation,” Olgart said.
Maintaining the highest standards, StoryPoint has taken extra measures to protect those in their care. This includes exercising an abundance of caution and doing everything in their control to prevent coronavirus from impacting their communities.
Olgart said established protocols are in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, and those of all other national, state, and local governing bodies, as well as local health officials.
“Currently, only essential visitors are permitted access into our community. For the safety of employees and residents, anyone (including employees) entering the building must go through a safety screening protocol, which includes getting their temperature taken,” she said.
“We are maintaining six feet of separation for every person in the building, and staff and residents are all wearing masks in the community. All staff and essential visitors are screened at the front desk. We have hand sanitation stations throughout the building, and we are disinfecting all common areas at regular intervals throughout the day,” said Courtney Fokianos, Executive Director at StoryPoint.
In addition to keeping the residents physically healthy, the StoryPoint team recognizes the need to keep them mentally healthy. Whether it’s complimentary breakfast and lunch, music and dancing, spirit weeks, or happy hours, the team knows that the little things play a huge role in resident happiness.
“We have an awesome internal channel we own that they can watch in their rooms and Shelly, part of our Life Enrichment team, has a morning news show with the weather, jokes, trivia questions, activities for the day, et cetera,” Fokianos said.
“We also then stream a storyboard showing updates, flyers for small groups and social distancing activities we are doing, and we play movies and videos every day on that channel, including pictures of our community. Shelly has been working with our Life Enrichment team, and they are streaming speakers and musicians to bring the entertainment our residents are used to directly to them in their apartment to keep them safe,” she said.
The team has creatively been able to adapt activities such as art projects, Bingo, rosary, and book clubs so the proper social distance protocols can be met.
StoryPoint is also working hard to ensure that residents stay connected to friends and family and even their doctors during this time.
“We have iPads we use to help residents who don’t have smartphones to video chat with their family or even attend telehealth appointments with their doctors,” Fokianos said.
From providing hand-sewn masks and writing special letters to the residents, StoryPoint is making sure that they continue to provide that quality care their residents have come to trust.
“In all that we do, every decision, we are and will continue to practice an abundance of caution,” Fokianos said.
For more information on StoryPoint Chesterton and how its staff is going above and beyond to care for its residents, as well as updates and information on the COVID-19 virus, visithttps://www.storypoint.com/covid-19/.