To Visit or Not To Visit

The biggest challenge for most families, all of us really, is weighing the risk of infection with the consequences of prolonged isolation. I work in the senior care and housing industry but am fortunate to not have a loved one calling a senior living facility home during a worldwide pandemic.

Recently my daughter asked me if we would be “doing,” Thanksgiving, and my immediate reply was “of course!” Now I am wondering if my sister, where our family gathers, is comfortable with hosting the magnitude of people we number, which is 46 by the way. My sister’s 90-year-old mother in law lives with her, her 22-year old son has Crohn’s Disease requiring infusions every six weeks, and our middle sister has a Sarcoidosis, a serious pulmonary disease.

As heartbreaking as not spending Thanksgiving together, as we have for decades, worse would be for one of our at-risk family to contract Covid from such a large gathering where a silent killer is on the loose! I believe whatever situation you and your family find yourself as we round out the most apocalyptic feeling year (without actual Zombies,) here is ONE thing everyone can agree… 2020 cannot end soon enough!

What if you have a loved one that calls an Assisted Living in north Texas home? With Governor Abbott’s new guidelines allowing two essential visitors, do you faithfully exercise your new found freedom, or are you pulling back as cases are once again on the rise in Collin, Dallas, Tarrant County and surrounding Counties?

The choice is really a personal one, and I frankly would not fault anyone either way. With loneliness and depression so common in older adults prior to Covid, the mental health and well being of these precious people can be just as serious and life threatening. You may want to consider your loved one’s age, and other risk factors; if they don’t have a severely compromised immune system, and they are declining due to the isolation, then personally I would be visiting at every opportunity.

Make sure that when you leave the community until you can visit again, that you take the utmost precautions of being exposed yourself. I have three amazing teammates that have chosen to forgo a couple small company gatherings in a public venue, and we all respect their decision!

Let’s take a peek at where the major counties in north Texas stand with Covid cases being self-reported at assisted living facilities as of 10/23/20.

In an effort to see this Covid-19, 2020 glass as half full, when you look at the percentage of older adults, and associates in assisted living facilities that have contracted Covid, is honestly fairly low in comparison to the total population of each County. Keep in mind, these numbers are also during a spike in cases statewide.

I do not want to minimize the danger of this sneaky disease, but instead offer empirical data that perhaps allows you to not live the remainder of 2020 in fear. Absolutely stay vigilant exercising caution but give yourself permission to smile and be happy!