The NBA Bubble, Can It Work For Senior Living?

You are probably thinking, the NBA, what can anything a professional sports organization be doing help residents of senior living facilities? First you need to understand what “the bubble,” is, and how it is helping to protect the NBA players, coaches, and their families from contracting the Covid-19 virus.

To resume their 2019/2020 season, the NBA created The Bubble, also referred to as the “Disney Bubble.” The Bubble is an isolation zone created at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to keep the players, coaches, and their families from contracting the Covid virus.

Now I am not suggesting that Disney World house all the residents of senior living facilities, however the environment that has been created at The Bubble could certainly be scaled down, duplicated, and adjusted to suit senior living facilities.

The key is to create a protective environment, which senior living facilities have attempted by restricting only essential visitors, i.e. healthcare workers. Unfortunately, residents of senior living facilities were still contracting the virus, and suffering from the emotional toll of being cutoff from family and friends. What then can senior living take away from the NBA Bubble model?

1. Setup apartments that staff members can live in for a designated time, much like the healthcare workers in hospitals or hot spots.

• Every facility is different and would need to come up with their own system. Possibly staff that has direct hands-on contact with residents live-in.
• Many residential care homes have care staff that stays at the home for several days in a row, then goes home on days off. Larger facilities could try that method.
• The key would be testing, testing and more testing. Before a staff member returns to work, they need to be tested, each time.

2. The NBA is also utilizing “Wearables,” that monitor the players movement, vital signs, and temperature. Many older adults are used to wearing an emergency pendant, this one delivers information vital to early detection of possible virus infection.

3. Yale University was chosen and funded by the NBA to create a faster, more accurate method of antigen testing which uses saliva samples instead of the nasal swab. The current nasal swab method has been shown to return negative results during the incubation period of the virus, whereas the antigen does not. The antigen test can produce a much quicker test result, is easier to collect, and costs approximately $1.00! The FDA is currently working to authorize the test for emergency use.

Recently a senior living community in north Texas setup a visitation area between two rooms with plexi-glass separators, all visits must be scheduled, masks must be worn, and temperature’s taken prior to entry.

Senior living facilities across the country have become ingenious in creating the new normal for their residents and families, and are definitely unsung heroes!