Tag: family member “essential caregivers”

For the first time in four months, fami­lies will be al­lowed to vis­it their loved ones in­side seni­or care homes, as Min­ne­so­ta health auth­ori­ties cau­tious­ly lift lock­down re­stric­tions meant to pre­vent the spread of the novel co­ro­na­vi­rus among vul­nera­ble old­er adults.

The Min­ne­so­ta Department of Health is rec­om­mend­ing that nurs­ing homes and as­sist­ed-liv­ing fa­cili­ties al­low cer­tain fam­i­ly mem­bers and out­side care­giv­ers in­side these fa­cili­ties to help mon­i­tor resi­dents’ care and al­le­vi­ate the harmful ef­fects of pro­longed i­so­la­tion and lone­li­ness. These “es­sen­tial care­giv­ers” will be de­sig­nat­ed by the fa­cili­ties and will be al­lowed to make sched­uled vis­its last­ing up to three hours a day, or until caregiving tasks are completed, un­der new guide­lines is­sued Fri­day.

The an­nounce­ment marks the most sig­nifi­cant step so far toward the re­open­ing of Min­ne­so­ta’s 1,700 seni­or care com­mu­ni­ties, which have come to re­sem­ble locked fortresses since the pan­dem­ic be­gan. With vir­tu­al­ly all visi­tors bar­red from nurs­ing homes since mid-March, seni­or home resi­dents have en­dured months of wrenching i­so­la­tion in their rooms. Continue reading.