Dear Residents and Families,

We remain committed to providing updates to our residents, families, and staff at AgeCare. As such, we are providing weekly updates to keep you all informed on what is happening at our communities and organization-wide.

1. Outings and Overnight Stays – An important update regarding outings and overnight stays.
2. Visitation Guidelines – Everything you need to know for a safe visit.
3. Care Starts at the Door - How Screeners and Greeters are Keeping AgeCare Staff, Residents and Visitors Safe During the Pandemic
4. Recreation Calendars - Staying active, intellectually stimulated, and socially connected.
5. Weekly Shout-Out – Celebrate the great work and activities happening at our AgeCare communities.

We hope these weekly updates are helpful. Thank you all for your continued support.

Sincerely,

AgeCare Communications

Outings and Overnight Stays

Residents are welcome to go on community walks, outings, and overnight stays as long as they follow all of the current provincial guidelines.

The safety of our residents and staff remains our top priority. As cases continue to be high throughout the province, we must remain diligent and take steps to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. The following guidelines are now in effect to ensure outings and overnight stays are as safe as possible.

Going out for an Outing or Overnight Stay

• If the resident requires support to prepare for or be brought down to the reception area for an outing or overnight stay, we ask that the Designated Family/ Support Person (DFSP) or Social Visitor pre-schedule with the nursing team at least 24 hours prior.
• Regardless if the resident is going out on their own, with a DFSP or a Social Visitor, residents must sign out at the reception desk.
• The DFSP or Social Visitor must meet the resident at the screening station for pickup.
• At the screening station, the DFSP or Social Visitor must:
  • provide proof of being fully vaccinated with both doses at least 2 weeks prior at screening, OR
  • be Rapid Antigen Screened (RAS) for COVID-19.
• The outing or overnight stay may proceed once the proof of vaccination or negative RAS result is received.
• The resident will not be able to go on an outing or overnight stay if the RAS result returns positive.
  • The individual who received the positive result will need to book a PCR test to confirm the positive result.
  • To book a PCR COVID-19 test, call 811 or visit ahs.ca/covid
    1. Select 'Book a Test' and follow the prompts.
    2. Answer 'Yes' to the question, Did you recently receive a positive COVID-19 test result on a Point of Care (POC) test?

Returning from an Outing or Overnight Stay

• Upon return from a community walk, outing or overnight stay, the resident must sign back in and be screened at the screening station.
• At the screening station, the resident or their designated (DFSP/Social Visitor) will be asked if they:
  • Wore their mask continuously while indoors, in a vehicle, or while visiting with unvaccinated individuals.
  • Maintained physical distancing of 2 meters while indoors, in a vehicle, or while visiting with unvaccinated individuals.
  • Followed all of the current gathering restrictions as outlined by Alberta Health.

• If the resident or their designate answers "yes" to both of these questions, they may proceed to their neighbourhood or room. No isolation will be required.
• If the resident or their designate answers "no" to either of these questions, they must put on a medical mask and proceed directly to their room. A nurse will be notified to assess and confirm their potential isolation status.
• If the nursing team determines that isolation is required, the resident will need to:

• remain in their room and receive tray service.
• be PCR swabbed for COVID-19 on Day 3 and Day 5.

• Once the swab result from Day 5 returns negative, the resident will no longer be required to isolate in their room.
• If either swab result returns as positive for COVID-19 or the resident develops symptoms, the resident will be immediately be placed on contact and droplet isolation and their family will be notified.

Visitation Guidelines

As of Monday, October 25, 2021, new visitation guidelines with continuous masking are in effect. Please familiarize yourself with the new guidelines should you choose to visit. >> View our Visitor Guide

At this time, we ask that visitors have either a photo of their vaccination status (on their phone) or a paper copy. Please do not rely only on the recently released QR codes for verification, as not all of our communities have the technology needed to scan these.

Please note that communities on outbreak may have different visitation restrictions in effect. Contact your community or sign up for email updates to stay informed on the latest information.

Care Starts at the Door

During the pandemic, our reception and administration teams have become the first line of defence to prevent the potential transmission of COVID-19 within our communities.

Screeners and Greeters are in place to ensure the safety and well-being of all and are following the mandates outlined by Alberta Health. These individuals work tirelessly – and unfortunately, somewhat thanklessly – to screen everyone entering the building, check their vaccination status, and instruct visitors on how to visit with their loved ones safely.

These dedicated team members are the first line of defence in keeping our communities COVID free, and they deserve our respect and appreciation.

Recreation Programming

We are so proud that many AgeCare staff stay with us for years; it's truly a testament to their commitment to residents and the communities they work in. So this week, we're shouting out Leah and Tammy, who just hit two huge milestones.

Tammy celebrated her 15^th anniversary, Leah her 10^th anniversary, and Jocelyn her 5^th anniversary at AgeCare Columbia!

This dream team is known for going above and beyond to help residents and their fellow co-workers. No task is too small or job too big for them to tackle – and they do it all while having fun and putting care first.

Thank you both for all your hard work – we are so lucky to have you as part of our AgeCare family!