L-R St. Joseph's Home Site Administrator Ryan Wiest, Sandra Milne CMHA ASER Executive Director, Danielle Semrau-McLean Methanex Stakeholder Relations Advisor

By Chantal Wagner

Hey Google, Keep In Touch

CMHA expands Keep In Touch program to long-term care

Apr 23, 2021 | 10:54 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – There are 120 long-term care beds in Medicine Hat.

To help improve mental health and comfort, the Canadian Mental Health Association’s (CMHA) goal is to provide a digital social connection for residents.

CMHA southeast region is asking businesses, individuals, and families to sponsor a Google Nest Hub Max for the new initiative called ‘Hey Google, Keep in Touch’.

This is an expansion of their Keep In Touch program.

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St. Joseph’s Home was the first location to receive five of the devices this week thanks to Methanex.

“We recognize that right now a lot of us are isolated and separated from their loved ones during the pandemic and so we felt like this was a really important opportunity to help address some of that and help connect people,” Danielle Semrau-McLean, Stakeholder Relations Advisor with Methanex said.

St. Joseph’s Site Administrator Ryan Wiest says the devices will be placed next to resident’s bedsides, including palliative care.

Residents will be able to keep in touch with their loved ones, especially during COVID.

“It’s huge, there are people that come here that don’t even have someone in town. So this makes it so they can connect with them. They could be out of province and even in another country,” Wiest said.

CMHA Executive Director Sandra Milne, says connection in any form is vital.

“And as Ryan said, some people don’t have any visitors. Some people don’t have mobility so they can just speak to it and say hay call my sister. Some might not use it for that, some might just want to hear some country music or a joke,” Milne added.

Charitable tax receipts will be provided if a Google Nest Hub Max is purchased or a donation is given. Each Google Hub costs $299 plus GST.

To support vulnerable members in our community through the ‘Hey Google, Keep in Touch’ initiative, visit the CMHA website.