Cincinnati families worry about loved ones in nursing homes during Thanksgiving holiday – WLWT Cincinnati

"What's one thing that most everyone is most thankful for? It's their family," Colleen O'Connell said.Pictures through windows will be the memories O'Connell and her sisters make with their dad, Danny, this Thanksgiving."They will have two assistants with my dad on the other side of the window. We'll do the wave thing," O'Connell said.Next week, O'Connell and her son will drive from their Northern Kentucky home to Iowa. They'll enjoy a holiday meal with her two sisters. But everyone's heart will be heavy, knowing Danny O'Connell will spend his 87th Thanksgiving battling dementia and diabetes in a room by himself in a Cedar Rapids nursing home."You can't celebrate what could very well potentially be the last Thanksgiving that he will be here on earth," O'Connell said."It really is a difficult time," Steve Slayton said.Slayton is executive director of The Kenwood by Senior Star, a retirement community in Madisonville. He plans to do all he can to help families stay connected during fall's biggest holiday."Zoom calls, FaceTime. We have, probably, 15 iPads at the community that my staff is really well-versed in using," Slayton said. "They'll go up to the resident's apartment and, you know, Zoom in with the family when they're doing dinner or something like that so they can feel engaged."Slayton knows technology can't replace human interaction, but he said the fear of spreading the coronavirus requires caution.That's something O'Connell, who WLWT investigator Todd Dykes talked to when her dad survived a case of COVID-19 in April, has come to appreciate, just as she's learned to appreciate senior care workers more than ever."Every year my sisters and I have given the people that are closest to my father a Christmas gift," she said. "This year we're giving them a Thanksgiving gift because we are thankful for them."Families who want to connect with loved ones living in nursing homes need to start crafting a plan now, because the last thing senior care facilities need is for people to simply show up on Thanksgiving Day without knowing the latest COVID-19 protocols.Also, people who have loved ones in a nursing home can stay connected by sending a card. Slayton said he watches the faces of residents light up when they get mail. Plus, he said a card makes a great keepsake.

"What's one thing that most everyone is most thankful for? It's their family," Colleen O'Connell said.

Pictures through windows will be the memories O'Connell and her sisters make with their dad, Danny, this Thanksgiving.

"They will have two assistants with my dad on the other side of the window. We'll do the wave thing," O'Connell said.

Next week, O'Connell and her son will drive from their Northern Kentucky home to Iowa. They'll enjoy a holiday meal with her two sisters. But everyone's heart will be heavy, knowing Danny O'Connell will spend his 87th Thanksgiving battling dementia and diabetes in a room by himself in a Cedar Rapids nursing home.

"You can't celebrate what could very well potentially be the last Thanksgiving that he will be here on earth," O'Connell said.

"It really is a difficult time," Steve Slayton said.

Slayton is executive director of The Kenwood by Senior Star, a retirement community in Madisonville. He plans to do all he can to help families stay connected during fall's biggest holiday.

"Zoom calls, FaceTime. We have, probably, 15 iPads at the community that my staff is really well-versed in using," Slayton said. "They'll go up to the resident's apartment and, you know, Zoom in with the family when they're doing dinner or something like that so they can feel engaged."

Slayton knows technology can't replace human interaction, but he said the fear of spreading the coronavirus requires caution.

That's something O'Connell, who WLWT investigator Todd Dykes talked to when her dad survived a case of COVID-19 in April, has come to appreciate, just as she's learned to appreciate senior care workers more than ever.

"Every year my sisters and I have given the people that are closest to my father a Christmas gift," she said. "This year we're giving them a Thanksgiving gift because we are thankful for them."

Families who want to connect with loved ones living in nursing homes need to start crafting a plan now, because the last thing senior care facilities need is for people to simply show up on Thanksgiving Day without knowing the latest COVID-19 protocols.

Also, people who have loved ones in a nursing home can stay connected by sending a card. Slayton said he watches the faces of residents light up when they get mail. Plus, he said a card makes a great keepsake.

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Cincinnati families worry about loved ones in nursing homes during Thanksgiving holiday - WLWT Cincinnati