Message from the President
Greetings friend, and welcome to the February Comfort Connection!
When I see what is happening in this world, it makes me grateful I was able to travel to my little island, Grenada, that I usually travel to every year. There are now new travel restrictions in place in Canada. Quarantine and tests have gone up a notch. And all flights to warm destinations directly from Canada are cancelled.
What usually happens in the home-care world at Christmas is family members get together and spend time with mom and dad. They see how well they may or may not be doing. They often realize they have declined from the year or months before, and they look for help from companies like Comforts of Home – Care so they can return to their homes with peace of mind, knowing mom and dad have the help they need.
If people were following recommended protocols in Manitoba, they would not have visited mom or dad at Christmas. All that family members have to go by is the familiar voice on the phone that assures them all is well. However, often times, mom or dad is very good at pulling it together long enough to not cause alarm even though circumstances may be getting worse and worse for them. We call that an "intact social façade."
No matter how badly faculties may be declining, mom or dad is pretty good for short periods of time at going along with the usual questions in the usual way so as not to let anyone know how they are really doing. "How are you?" – Fine, comes the usual reply. "How was breakfast?" Oh, it was good. "What did you have?" Oh, I had some toast and tea.
In reality, the person on the end of the phone cannot tell if all is as well as it sounds. It could be mom has no idea what she ate for breakfast. But because it's an easy one to fill the blanks in on, the test is passed. Another favourite is asking their spouse to fill in the blanks. It seems so natural. They have depended on one another for years. Why wouldn’t he or she now help me with remembering this or that?
If you have not been able to visit your parents due to travel or visiting restrictions, and you have a sense they are not as well as they once were, it may be a good idea to pick up the phone and call our office. We are happy to discuss any concerns you may have and help you in any way we can. It looks like visiting may be opening up in the near future. Wouldn’t that be incredible! No one should have to be cut off from their loved ones.
