While visitor restrictions have eased at Hillcrest Nursing Home, valuable lessons have been learned over the past year because of the pandemic which will carry on into the future.
One hurdle staff at the McCook nursing home faced early on was how to connect the elderly residents to outside events and to maintain contact with visitors. That is where technology has come into play.
With many events being live-streamed or families visiting over Zoom, Hillcrest staff saw an opportunity to connect nursing home residents to the outside world using updated televisions - or smart TVs.
Using $40,000 in grants from the Nebraska Community Foundation’s Connecting Elders with Family program, Hillcrest was able to install smart TVs in the residents’ rooms. While the new unites may look like a standard TV, a smart TV uses the internet to provide streaming video and services through the TV.
The funding for the new TVs came through a collaboration of sources. McCook Community Foundation Fund and the Hillcrest Nursing Home Foundation each provided $10,000 for a total of $20,000, which was then matched by the Connecting Elder with Family grant through the Nebraska Community Foundation. This meant $40,000 was available to purchase and install the smart TVs throughout the facility, bringing the residents closer to their family and friends via technology.
“The world is going more and more digital,” Foster said. “With the new smart TVs, the residents can even access newspapers that are now online from the comfort of their room.”
The smart TVs are also made possible because Hillcrest offers high-speed internet, which is needed for the technology. “Hillcrest is one of the few - if only - nursing homes to be a 1-gig facility,” Foster said.
Another bonus was standardizing the brand of TVs throughout the facility, which allows staff to better able to pinpoint and fix problems. Previously, residents brought their own individual TVs to the facility, meaning staff had to learn how to program or fix a variety of TVs.
“The new TVs will make it much easier on the staff,” Foster said, “dealing with just one type of remote, one model of TV.”
The project may not have happened had the three entities not come to together to pool their resources.
McCook Community Foundation Fund chairperson Cindy Huff said this project and the grants used to fund it demonstrate how working together can provide greater benefits for everyone.
“Through a collaboration between the Hillcrest Foundation, the McCook Community Foundation Fund, and the Nebraska Community Foundation and its affiliates, we were able to increase opportunities and positively impact each resident's life,” Huff said. “Hillcrest residents will be better connected with friends and family for years to come while also easily accessing personal entertainment.”
Foster added that this project benefits not just McCook but the entire region because Hillcrest serves so many across Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas.
“This collaboration is just a great example of multiple entities working together,” he said.
The Connecting Elders with Family program began just as the pandemic was forcing facilities such as nursing homes to close its doors to outside visitors and prohibit residents from venturing out.
So in the spring of 2020, the Nebraska Community Foundation announced the Connecting Elders with Family funding opportunity, a collaboration between the Alice DeVoe Donor-Advised Fund—an affiliated fund of NCF—and another anonymous donor. The opportunity provides matching grants to NCF affiliated funds to connect and engage elders with family and friends, including electronic devices and complementary equipment.
Even though the facilities such as nursing homes are now welcoming visitors, the new technology will continue to benefit the residents. The new TVs will allow residents who may not be capable of attending activities outside the nursing home to watch from the comfort of their rooms or visit with family members who don’t live near by, face to face via the TV screen.
And the new TVs add to the quality of life at Hillcrest, opening up other opportunities for residents, who are thrilled by the new additions.
Cathy Lubben said, “I think it is great! I have more channels, movies and still have my music!”
The MCFF portion of the grant was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Andy and Geri Anderson’s Endowment Account. MCFF and the Hillcrest Foundation are both affiliated funds of the Nebraska Community Foundation.
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Building Connections in McCook Matters June in McCook will be abuzz with fun events including a Youth Summit, hosted by McCook Community Foundation Fund. Our young people in Youth Change Reaction will host the first Nebraska Community Foundation gathering for youth, which will bring youth from across Nebraska to McCook. While still in the planning stages, our students identified that McCook is great because of connections . Our young people easily recognize how critical this factor is to people attraction, to people retention, and to improve their futures. What I miss most about my high school classroom is connections with students and colleagues. In education, I taught first, second, and sometimes third generations in families. My husband, Greg, and I are not McCook natives, but I eventually knew who was related to whom and usually where the parent(s) were employed. Going to the grocery store meant greetings from students and sometimes their family members. I officially retired from my high school classroom nine years ago in May. When you retire, the most-asked question becomes “What do you do with your time?” I try to maintain those connections and make new ones by belonging. For the past seven years, Sharon Bohling and I have volunteered to help plan and organize Bison Days for our high school students, which took place February 10 and 11. It would not happen without the financial support of McCook Community Foundation Fund, plus the McCook High School, local businesses, and the talented people of Southwest Nebraska who say “yes” when one of us reaches out to ask for the donation of time and talent. I would venture that they allow us to be on the Bison Days’ committee because we both have connections within our community—it’s certainly not our computer savvy. Connections can also solve a problem. Recently, I signed up to help a local family in crisis. My morning plan revolved around delivering my donation at a designated drop-off place. That didn’t work out. Fortunately, I still work with youth in various capacities, so I know that Keri Wilkinson works for Camy Bradley. Keri was an organizer for the family fundraiser, so I walked in Camy’s office hoping to find Keri. She was not there, so Camy and I visited briefly. She knew someone (who I did not know) who could possibly give me further direction. Only in a town with connections are you able to interrupt someone’s business, have her reach out for you using her connections , and offer to keep the donations for me until Keri’s return. Another great example of connecting can be found over coffee. Dee Friehe and I are longtime teacher friends. During a chance meeting at the grocery store a few weeks ago, she shared how she was there following a funeral service and was gathering supplies to deliver supper to the grieving family that night. She also updated me on her group of adults who meet for coffee on Thursdays at Ember’s, which varies from 8-28 depending on the day. She recognized the need for adults moving to McCook or folks just wanting to get out to make connections . Dee’s husband, Mark, also hosts his own group of men who are new(er) to McCook. She regaled me with stories of their Christmas party and other special gatherings. Wanting to call McCook your home is solidified by building connections . Ronda Graff has written about McCook Connects which matches a McCook person with someone new to the community of similar interests. I earned my McCook Connects’ T-shirt welcoming a young family with children. We have since spent many hot summer days sitting on bleachers together cheering on our 4-H horse kids while they show their horses. Warning: I connected them with a “free” new-to-them horse. Be careful connecting with me or you’ll probably own a horse. You do not have to be retired to connect in this community. Volunteering is a surefire way to meet people. McCook has many civic groups looking for new faces. Attend a church here; we have many welcoming congregations. Go to ball games or school concerts, attend concerts in the park, learn a new skill through the college, show up at a Third Thursday event or invite the neighbors for a BBQ. Take your youngsters to story hour or Move and Groove at the library. Go watch an event at the Kiplinger Arena. You can even take it a step further: Make a friend or call a friend and invite him/her to go with you. It is human connection that keeps us healthy and happy. If McCook Community Foundation Fund can help you connect in some meaningful way, please reach out for advice or support. *** While Pam Wolford may be retired, she is just as busy serving on the McCook Community Foundation Fund committee and started a new Learn and Return Scholarship with MCFF, while stepping up to grandparent whenever the call comes in.
