Opening new worlds of communication - Not-for-Profit Report - social work with the aged

Nursing Homes, April, 1999 by Paulette Sansone

In 1996, a social work graduate intern planted the seed that eventually blossomed into our Love Connection program. One of her cases involved a very alert, yet unfortunately bedbound, resident. The woman had no surviving family and, because of financial circumstances, no telephone in her room. But she did have a very close friend with whom she wanted to keep in touch. Our intern suggested that we buy her a cordless phone so she could maintain this relationship.

We found that this resident's dilemma was a fairly common one at Frances Schervier Home and Hospital, a 364-bed facility in the Bronx. We determined that four groups of residents would benefit from having access to cordless telephones: new admissions, those who are bedbound, those in isolation for medical reasons and those unable to pay for phones. These people are often alone, isolated, depressed and anxious, having lost their link to the outside world and their previous lives. For many of our residents, the phone is the best means available to help preserve the bond with their families and loved ones. In addition, giving families this telephone link allays their anxieties about placement and the care their loved one is receiving.

For these reasons, we submitted a $20,000 grant proposal to the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor Foundation to be used to buy 10 cordless phones (one for each of our nursing units), to install the lines and pay the phone bills. By early 1997, we had received a grant to fund the Love Connection program. The phones we used have speaker capability, so that residents who lack the necessary range of motion to hold phones can use them. They also have amplifiers for the hard of hearing.

The initial Love Connection phones were installed on two units as a demonstration project that spring, with staff trained in how to use them. The staff was also encourage to promote the use of the phones with residents. In addition, flyers were sent to family members explaining the purpose of the phones and listing the numbers and hours of operation, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. A month later, the other eight phones were installed in the remaining nursing units.

The phones give residents instant communication with the outside world. For instance, one resident with mild dementia became extremely upset because she thought her brother had died. The cordless phone enabled a social worker to help the woman call her brother and receive reassurance directly from him.

The Love Connection allows residents who have a set schedule of contact with a family member to continue their pattern of communication. It lets residents in short-stay rehab talk to their loved ones at a time when they are most upset and confused, without having to wait for a telephone to be installed. It also allows residents more privacy and lets them talk for a longer time than if they had to take or make calls at the nurses' station.

All of our residents are allowed to use the Love Connection. It is so popular that about 60 to 70 residents without private phones use it consistently. If a call comes in for a resident, a staff member from that unit will locate that person and bring him or her the phone. Staff also help residents make their own calls, if help is needed. We have had no problems with phones being monopolized or abused by individual residents.

In the two years the program has been in operation, we have used about half of the grant money. Our phone bills average $300 a month, and since the phones and installation are paid for, we expect to keep the Love Connection going for a few more years.

This will enable us to keep helping residents like one 100-year-old woman with moderate dementia: Her only daughter has Parkinson's disease and can no longer come to visit her mother. The resident can recognize her daughter's voice, and the Love Connection allows mother and daughter to talk every day. This daily contact, possible in only this way, gives both of them comfort and peace of mind.

Paulette Sansone, PhD, CSW, is director of social services and research at Frances Schervier Home and Hospital. For further information, call (718) 548-1700.