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As second COVID-19 death reported at Edgemere senior living facility, North Texas families weigh whether to bring loved ones home

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins suggested it’s safer to take elderly out of nursing homes, but for many it’s not so easy

Families with loved ones living at assisted-living facilities are weighing their options as the coronavirus spreads across North Texas, and residents of nursing homes are proving to be particularly vulnerable.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said on a teleconference Monday that a second COVID-19 death has been reported at Edgemere, a senior-living facility in North Dallas, 10 new cases have been reported at Skyline Nursing Home, and the Reserve at Richardson has also reported one case.

Jenkins suggested on Sunday that people should consider bringing loved ones home after several cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Dallas assisted-living facilities.

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“I want every family to really question: Could they take care of a person and maybe try to get them home?” Jenkins said. “What I am saying is if you bring your loved one home, it’s safer than leaving them in the nursing home, if you can.”

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Jenkins brought his mother home from an independent-living facility about three weeks ago, but for many North Texas families, that’s not so easy.

“It was really quite improper for him to have said those words,” Cydney Stevenson said, whose 89-year-old father has dementia and lives at Parsons House Preston Hollow. She added that for her and many other families, bringing a loved one home isn’t possible, practical or safe.

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Jenkins clarified on Monday that he’s not ordering families to take their elderly family members home from long-term care facilities but simply asking those with the resources to do so to consider taking that action.

He said that families are going to have to have these “tough conversations” because if the situation in Dallas begins looking like New York or another coronavirus hotspot, long-term care facilities could be among the hardest hit.

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“What we’re saying is that if you’re in a situation where that’s an option, you need to think about doing that,” Jenkins said.

But as much as she wishes she could, Stevenson said at home she can’t provide her father with the level of care and attention he needs.

Every morning Stevenson drives three minutes to Parsons House to drop a note off for her father.

She gives the note to a nurse, wearing gloves, who delivers the note to her father. Stevenson’s father has difficulty hearing, so it’s not easy to talk by phone, and coronavirus safety measures prevent them from seeing each other in person. Instead she waves at him through the windows of the assisted-living center.

“It hurts my heart,” Stevenson said.

It’s difficult, but it’s all they can do right now.

Stevenson isn’t alone. Andy Stoker, senior minister of First United Methodist Church Dallas, is facing the same tough decision.

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Stoker’s mother and stepfather live at CC Young Senior Living, and Stoker doesn’t think he can bring them home, partly because his mother has “significant medical needs” that would be challenging to accommodate at home.

Bringing them home would also mean exposing them to Stoker’s children — 16 and 11 years old — and Stoker’s wife who is a nurse.

“We could potentially put them at a greater risk by bringing them home,” Stoker said. “It would be very difficult to make that transition into a multigenerational household.”

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Stoker, who also serves on the board of directors for CC Young Senior Living, said that while it may be difficult, families that can accommodate bringing a loved one home should consider it.

“In a critical time like this, we’re all called to make sacrifices,” Stoker said. “We will have to rise to the occasion.”

Dr. Sarah Ross, assistant professor of geriatrics for the University of North Texas Health Science Center, said bringing a loved one home from a facility, which can house around 100 people, to a single-family home, certainly reduces the risk of exposure, but it also can present other difficulties.

“There’s a lot of unforeseen challenges,” Ross said.

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Some of those challenges could include setting up equipment needed for long-term care or to make the home more accessible. Ross said a patient of hers went to live with her daughter two weeks ago, but that the process was very involved and included ordering a hospital bed and wheelchair for the home. For patients who require an at-home health care provider, that service can also be costly by the hour.

“Each family kind of has to decide what’s best for their loved ones,” Ross said.

There also can be emotional challenges for those living in an assisted-living center when they leave a place they’re used to.

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“That’s their home,” Ross said. “We might think of that as a medical building, but that’s their home.” Ross said such a move could be especially difficult for someone with dementia.

“It could be a potentially traumatic experience, even if it's a family member’s home,” she said.

Families that are able to bring a loved one home should take extra precautions, according to Ross. Those safety measures include: practicing six-feet social distancing, cleaning high-touch surfaces, and washing hands for at least 20 seconds. Those measures should especially be considered in multi-generational households, she added, as young people without symptoms can spread the virus.

For now, Stevenson said she will keep dropping off notes for her father and trusting the staff at his nursing facility to care for him.

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“I have faith that those people are caring for my dad,” Stevenson said. “I wouldn’t have put him there otherwise, but is it perfect? No.”

Staff writer Obed Manuel contributed to this report.

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