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Student Bianca Bill shows residents the artwork her class created. Photo: Supplied
Viral videos
Queensland students
Skype residents after
regular visits cancelled.
B
risbane high school students have
set up weekly Skype calls with
residents to counter the loneliness
those unable to have visitors may feel.
Due to the spread of COVID-19, students
at Bray Park State High School knew they
couldn’t keep up their regular visits with
residents at Wesley Mission Queensland’s
aged care community Anam Cara, but
didn’t want to lose touch.
The principal of Bray Park State High
School, Peter Turner, said the first call
was a success.
“The students were quite emotional, and
you could see how much it meant to the
residents,” Turner said.
Sixteen-year-old Bianca Bill said that she
and her classmates were looking forward
to the calls.
“We all love the weekly visits to Anam
Cara – we would spend time with the
residents, cooking, playing games, walking
When heroes
become outcasts
Sundale Nursing Home. Photographer: Ron Rittenhouse
4
agedcareinsite.com.au
the therapy dogs, and they’ve become our
friends and we miss them,” Bill said.
“Some of us will do the video call from
the art room so we can show them our art
projects, others will call from the music
room so they can play some music for the
residents. We hope that it will help them
feel happy during the difficult time.”
Although Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk
announced that Queensland schools
would be student-free from 6 April, Bill
said she and her fellow students would
continue to chat with residents.
Silvia Holl, residential aged care manager
at Anam Cara, thanked the students for
their care and compassion for the aged
care residents.
“The visits from the students are a
highlight of the week for our residents, so
they were very sad when they learnt it had
to be suspended. When we told them that
the students wanted to stay in touch via
video, they were delighted,” Holl said.
“The weekly calls will mean so much
to the residents and will help to keep
their spirits up ... until it is safe to resume
the visits.” ■
US nursing home staff face public fear.
By AAP
W
orkers at a West Virginia nursing home
where there was a cluster of coronavirus
cases have been treated as pariahs in their
own communities, unable to get taxis, childcare or service
in stores.
“It’s heartbreaking for them,” said Carl Shrader, medical director
for the Sundale Nursing Home. “And they’re already in a fragile
place from what they’re being asked to do.”
Twenty-one residents and eight staffers at the Morgantown
nursing home have tested positive for the virus since the first case
was discovered.
As well as working 16-hour shifts, fighting to contain the
virus, care for elderly residents and field phone calls from
worried relatives, fear in the community is making their lives
more difficult.
One staffer was told to get back when she tried to use a card
to pay for items at a gas station. Another was told by a babysitter:
“No, I don’t want your child in my home.”
The families of Sundale staffers have become targets, too, with
some bosses telling them to stay home because a spouse or
relative works at the nursing home.
Shrader said the stories marred an otherwise generous
outpouring of support, with people donating food, drinks and
cleaning supplies.
“It’s difficult enough to be tasked with these kinds of
obligations, and it’s critically important during the moments
they’re outside of the facility that they still feel that they’re part
of their communities,” he said. ■