Making a Home for the Holidays

Deerfield Ridge Assisted Living and Memory Care, a local nursing home here in Boone. Photo Cred: Navion Senior Solutions

Sofia Carmichael, Community Desk Lead

We often view the holiday season as a time of warmth and love, a time to spend with family and friends. We gather around a fireplace or a dining room table and celebrate the festive times together, but for those living in nursing homes and those who are unable to visit their families, these times can be hard. 

Amanda Berry, the Executive Director at Deerfield Ridge Assisted Living, has been a nurse in the High Country for 23 years and has worked at Deerfield for almost 8 years. Throughout her time, she has developed a caretaking style that promotes the best environment for residents.

“We are an assisted living and memory care community. However, I tell people that at the end of the day, we take care of people,” said Berry. “The difference in our community and others is that we believe in living the highest quality of life that you can that day, with whatever disease process the resident and family are facing. Everyone’s journey is different. We believe in staying active and enriching every day with lots of activities.”

Deerfield Ridge activities are for everyone. Some activities are held at the assisted living facility, including various games and programs focused on promoting healing, while other activities offer opportunities to get out of the facility and enjoy events around the community. 

“Today, a bus load of residents went to drive around Chetola and Blowing Rock to look at the lights, and you would’ve found us on Saturday night decorating a float, and our residents rode in the parade,” said Berry. “Not everyone is able to do those types of activities, so sometimes it is working with music therapy or playing Scrabble or bingo. Whatever the day may bring, we are in the business of creating smiles.”

Emma Pastustic, a senior in the CNA program at the high school, works to help the residents with daily tasks like showering and feeding, and tries to make sure that the residents are able to spend the rest of their lives happy and comfortable. She helps many different types of patients, and while some aren’t intensely affected by the holiday season, others have a larger reaction to the loneliness they feel. 

“I'm in the back of Deerfield, where most of the people aren't very aware, so they definitely don't talk as much about their family,” said Pastustic. “But, in the front, I have worked with several residents who talk about their family and wanting to be around them, but they have friends inside the facility that they are able to hang out with and be around. Also, residents' families come and see them, so they feel better and still included.”

Pastustic spends a lot of her time at Deerfield Assisted Living and has seen the work that the facility has done to cheer up the patients, like Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and decorations to make the home more festive, but she also sees the positive effects of her time spent with patients. 

“It helps them because they have someone around to talk to and help them with things,” said Pastustic. “We like to keep them busy by doing puzzles and talking to them so they don't feel so lonely.”

With residents not always being able to spend their holidays with their families, the careworkers, with the help of volunteers, take on the responsibility of providing the warmth and love that comes with the holiday season. 

“The challenges around the holidays are that not all residents’ families are always able to visit, so it is our job to make sure that they are surrounded by happiness and know that they are cared for,” said Berry. “We do an Angel tree every Christmas, and every resident has at least two presents to open on Christmas Eve, and we all come together and open those presents around the Christmas tree.”

The workers sacrifice a significant amount of their time to provide the best experience for residents and truly make the community feel like a family. But it doesn’t come without challenges for both the residents and workers alike. 

“We believe in inspiring others to be involved in healthcare, which is probably one of the most challenging industries you can work in, but it is the most rewarding,” said Berry. “Many people around the holidays just think about what their plans are, how they are going to get home for the holidays, but we are always thinking, how can we make sure we have plenty of help to take care of everyone, and make it a great day for all the residents. It takes sacrifice and perseverance, but we have a great team.”

There are so many opportunities to get involved at the homes and to help cheer up what could be an otherwise lonely holiday season for residents, and they are always looking for more people to come and volunteer, so all you have to do is make the call. 

“If anyone is interested in volunteering, we do have quite a few students, and we will welcome many more. Just come by or give us a call, and we will get you started,” said Berry.