CHESAPEAKE, Va. - It’s been tough on all of us to stay away from family and friends, but it can be especially hard on those living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
A physical therapist from Chesapeake saw that first-hand earlier this week while working with two patients at Sentara Leigh Hospital.
"I was helping one of them up to the chair and I was just holding her hand because her hands were super cold, and she said, 'This is the first physical touch I’ve had in weeks,'" said Dr. Emily Wiesner. "They both were just telling me their stories of how they miss their families and how they don’t get to do their regular activities. They’re basically confined to their room just to keep them safe."
When she got home from work that night, she decided to do something about it.
She and her kids started creating cards to deliver to nursing homes in the area to let residents know someone is thinking about them.
"Right now, I still have the luxury of coming home from the hospital after work; I still get to see my family. They can talk to their family on the phone, but they’re not having that physical, personal touch with anybody," Wiesner said. "The staff is dropping their meals off at their doors, so they’re really confined to themselves all day for weeks. I just felt for them."
She also asked reached out to neighbors and friends to see if they wanted to make cards as well and got a huge response.
In just a few days, she already has nearly 100 cards.
She plans to start delivering them this weekend to several nursing homes in Chesapeake.
If you’d like to do something similar, she recommends reaching out to the nursing home first since they all have different policies about what they can accept and how you can drop it off.
