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Date: 12/16/2020
SPRINGFIELD – COVID-19 has changed virtually every aspect of life over the past year. Many establishments closed, socialization decreased and the world was left rethinking how to function. The Mental Health Association (MHA) in Springfield felt these effects in a variety of ways.
When COVID-19 began spreading rapidly, the state closed all community-based day programs. Day programs serve certain populations such as seniors, those with intellectual disabilities or those with mental health disabilities. These programs provide members with a place to come for support and activity. MHA’s Resource Center was one day program that was forced to close.
The resource center works to support individuals who are survivors of brain injuries or who have significant medical conditions including mental illness, chronic pain and Multiple Sclerosis. Members of the resource center were, at one point, living in a nursing home. They were then deemed eligible to live on their own in the community with additional support by the ABI and MFP waivers. These waivers became available as part of the Hutchinson v. Patrick settlement in 2009.
“There wasn’t a lot of opportunity for this population to be supported throughout the day, to get really true rehab services, mental health support, that kind of support outside of their homes,” said Vice President of New Way Sara Kyser.
This is why MHA started their Resource Center a few years ago. In The Resource Center, members are offered a community of people who help them through daily life in the form of physical and occupational therapy, memory work, crafts, music, socialization and recovery all while working toward current and future goals.
Pre-pandemic, the resource center offered daily in-person support to its members. When the resource center had to close, Kyser and Program Coordinator Emily Gracewski knew that they had to figure out a way to continue helping members in need. Kyser and Gracewski decided to go virtual.
“We had to pretty much reinvent the program, which was no small effort,” said Kyser.
The resource center now hosts daily Zoom meetings and phone calls with their members where they can play games, have informal coffee hours, socialize with others and even arrange one-on-one meetings. The resource center also sends packets out that are full of activities such as memory exercises, brain training and crafts.
Members who live in MHA’s group home settings are able to do hands-on activities throughout the week with one team member. According to Kyser, this is partly for socialization and engagement to keep their mental health positive, but also to help keep dexterity in their hands by doing art and activities.
The resource center also has about three to four members who come into the building. These members consist of those who live at home with family and have been completely isolated there. All members and staff are temperature checked daily, socially distanced and wearing proper PPE. Staff are also COVID-19 tested every two weeks.
“We didn’t let the pandemic get in the way of providing services that people rely on for their overall emotional health and wellness. It would have been easier to be passive and shut down and say ‘we’ll pick this up when things are better,’ but that wouldn’t have been helpful to anyone, especially to our members. Our team realized that we had to make people know that we’re still here, that we still care about them and will keep supporting them during what is the scariest time most of us have lived through,” said Gracewski in a press release.
Despite the drastic changes that had to occur, there are still positives within the situation. According to Kyser, the resource center has seen more engagement from members during this time. When the center was open in the traditional sense, if people had significant medical appointments, hospitalizations or even weren’t feeling up to meetings, they would see engagement dip.
“Giving them the opportunity to join in from home, in their pajamas when maybe they're not feeling 100 percent, we’ve seen some engagement from folks that had taken a step back a bit. This kind of opens doors to come as you are, come if your hair’s not done, come if you got up five minutes ago or, you know, if you felt like you couldn’t stay the whole day, that’s no longer an issue,” said Kyser.
Even when COVID-19 ends, Kyser said the resource center now hopes to keep some sort of virtual aspect to their program.
“It’s so wonderful when we can have a silver lining in something that’s been so tragic,” she said. “I think in the end it’s really paying off because people are still getting that same engagement and doing so safely, which is such an important thing.”
Those who are interested in learning more about MHA and the resource center are encouraged to visit their website at https://www.mhainc.org.