UCP of the North Bay
Adult Day Program Update
May 1st, 2020
Helping Participants through Personal Connection
“UCP of the North Bay would like to reassure our participants, family members, and the community that we are doing everything possible to stay socially connected by providing online training and education programs that support the continued health and well-being of the children and adults that we serve.”
Our Outreach Program has reached the point where we are getting much more participation in online classes. From April 23 through April 29, UCP of the North Bay Programs presented 85 online classes with a total attendance of 1,137 at an average of 13 participants per class. On average, 91% of our participants are speaking with their assigned staff member individually each day. We are pleased that so many staff members and participants have learned how to use Zoom for classes, which is a class itself as we are all learning this new means of communication. We expect that as we eventually return to providing regular programs, we will need to provide a balance of online classes and site and community-based activities to comply with the anticipated continuation of physical distancing and safety procedures. We are continuing to closely monitor the wellness and engagement of all our participants.
WineBev Services identified 14 participants that need tablets for enhanced participation in online classes. UCP of the North Bay is purchasing Amazon Fire Tablets for those participants. We dropped off two laptops in the past week to participants that are using them for our online classes. As part of their daily contact with individual participants, our staff members are using Zoom Tutorials to help develop participant skills with this new means of communication. In some instances where technology issues have not been resolved, we are delivering activities to participants that they can do at home.
Many of our participants are feeling overwhelmed as evidenced by our daily conversations and wellness assessments – they really want a place to work and socialize. Our online classes are helping to meet that need by creating a strong sense of support and making it through this together. Many of our classes include self-care, stress and anxiety management, and meditation. We will also be using Zoom to hold Individual Service Plan meetings for our participants starting in May. Our wine packaging business continues to take on new projects that will be available for our participants once shelter-in-place is partially or fully lifted and it is safe to return.
We are continuing to work closely with participants and homes to get as many individuals connected online as possible. We are starting two new classes next week, Career Exploration and Social Skills in the Workplace, as we balance activity classes with employment training classes. This replicates our regular on-site and community-based program while we are still under shelter-in-place guidelines. Our current Workplace Safety class provides a step-by-step guide for learning job skills and safety protocols for offsite work crews at each job location.
More participants joined our online classes for the first time this week. In Crafting Class, participants learned how to create pictures using a mixture of basic shapes found in their households. In Art Class, participants worked on creative doodling using line drawing techniques and focused on dividing space. Many of our participants have shared photos of their creations on the OADS Facebook Group. In Health and Safety Class we discuss the importance of maintaining good health, observing physical distancing, wearing masks, and washing hands.
We are holding 7-8 classes per day and we added several classes this week including Storytelling and Positive Communication. Storytelling provides participants the opportunity to read to the class and lead a discussion of the story. Our participants are excited to join our classes and see their co-workers and friends. Class attendance is increasing each day as our staff members continue to provide instruction to parents, caregivers, and participants on how to use Zoom.
We added a Sing-A-Long class led by a volunteer who plays the ukulele and sings classic songs with the class. Our program schedule closely resembles a regular program day in terms of class offerings. We were pleased that three of our participants joined classes for the first time this week as we work with residential homes to schedule classes at the most opportune times.
Staff members in both Group Supported Employment and Individual Supported Employment are participating in classes and are assisting participants who require support as they work in essential services. We are starting a Community Employment Class designed specifically for Supported Employment participants that will begin the first week of May.
Group Supported Employment has continued with staff members only working on-site at local businesses to help maintain placements. Our first Group Supported Employment work crew including participants will be returning to work on Monday, May 4 at the Petaluma Recycling Center, an essential business. Returning to work for each individual participant is entirely voluntary and safety precautions and training requirements will be followed by all staff members and participants. Individual Supported Employment continues to have several participants work at essential businesses supported by Job Coaches and employed by those businesses.
