Nursing Homes Use Technology to Connect Residents and Families

Nursing homes across Nebraska have banned visitors, often separating older Nebraskans from their families. Staff at nursing facilities, as well as family members, are looking for ways to keep people connected. This includes cards, phone calls, and online video calls.

Nikea Brady is resident life coordinator at Dunklau Gardens in Fremont. She said staff have helped residents' family members outside the nursing home learn to video conference their relatives.

"For some of our families, it wasn’t so much that we needed to bring in the technology, it was our families having access to the technology as well. So we hadn’t anticipated that," Brady said. "So new for our residents, yes, but what I was really surprised at how new it actually is for our families."

Video conferencing has been helped along by some donated smart phones.

Family members have also come to paint the windows of the nursing facility and otherwise visit from outside. Residents with interior rooms are allowed time at windows to see visitors.