Activities aide Olivia Danner helps residents work on a project during Easter at Concordia at Cabot. The facility stopped family visitation March 23 because of the coronavirus.

In normal times, the staff of Concordia at Cabot works to meet its 254 residents' needs so they can stay in a home environment. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, these are not normal times, said administrator Anne Denny.

That's what makes activity aide Tiffany Steiner and her colleagues' work even more vital, Denny said.

With pandemic precautions — the buildings were locked down March 23 and visitors are forbidden — Steiner and the other seven activity aides are focused on keeping residents' morale up.

The facility at 134 Marwood Road houses personal care, short-term rehabilitation and long-term nursing care residents.

“Whether it's doing games with residents, doing word searches, paintings or helping them Skype with family, whatever the resident needs, they take care of it,” Denny said. “They do nail pampering, too.

“The activities are really limited now because of the social distancing. They do as much as they can to keep them entertained and keep their spirits up because there are no visitors allowed.”

Personal care resident Eleanor Mangus, 94, especially enjoys Steiner's efforts.

“She's calling games. She's upbeat all of the time. She's makes people smile. She's just so bubbly,” Mangus said. “She makes people feel good, not just me.”

It's been a good fit for Steiner of East Brady, who's been working at Concordia for 12 years.

Saying she was socially awkward when she was younger, Steiner first joined the staff as a housekeeper. But after a year or so, she made the transition to activity aide.

“She's a natural,” Denny said. “She's one of the lucky ones you come across.”“I realized I loved the residents,” Steiner said. And she has a flair for the work.“I'm very creative with all kinds of games, simple but fun things,” she said.Of course, she said, some games are off limits these days, like bingo.“You can't have them touching the chips,” she said. “But we can play 'Family Feud' and word games.”The ice cream socials aren't really social anymore. Ice cream is taken to each of the residents' rooms.Other activities have also been modified to keep social distancing rules.“We do it in groups but we have them all spread out. The staff wears masks. No one is breathing on each other,” Steiner said about interacting with residents during the pandemic.But the changed rules don't keep Mangus from enjoying one of her favorite activities that Steiner leads, art class.“She comes up with things for us to paint and draw,” Mangus said. “She's really great at art. She comes up with great pictures for us to do.”Steiner said her next art project will involve more Concordia residents than just those in the personal care section.She's asked Concordia Haven Apartment residents to use their woodshop to cut boards in the shape of boots, about 40 of them.Steiner said her art students will paint and decorate the boots in an “April showers” theme.“It's nice keeping it in-house,” she said.Steiner said she and her fellow aides work from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week or sometimes on a night shift from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.But she says she's always happy to come to work.For one thing, she says the residents “brought me out socially.”For another, she said, “The residents are just so much fun that you feel up when you come to work.”And it doesn't hurt that Steiner believes she and the other aides perform vital work for the residents.“We lighten up their lives,” she said. “When you move into a nursing home, you think 'Why am I still here?'“You make them feel they still have a purpose, that you can still have fun. It's very fulfilling,” Steiner said.

Tiffany Steiner, an activity aide at Concordia at Cabot, tries to keep seniors engaged and enjoying life.