Individuals who once participated in the Prince William Adult Day Health Care have missed their friends and the activities since COVID-19 suspended their ability to attend the program every day.  

Still, staff at the Adult Day Health Care try to see to it that their clients remain engaged.

“The Adult Day Health Care has had to shift from traditional in-person programming and looked at new and innovative ways to continue to support and serve participants and families,” said Kathleen Wiley, the recreation specialist for Adult Day Health Care.

One of the recent activities that some of the Adult Day Health Care clients took part in was the Spring Drive-Through, where participants rode through the parking lot at the Woodbridge Senior Center to play a couple of games and pick up some goodie bags. The bags were full of cognitive activities, puzzles, art, crafts, coloring, exercise DVDs and balloons for balloon volleyball at home.

“The bags have the typical items they would find in the program. It’s the things we would be doing every day. If it’s a craft, I put all the craft items in the bag, and I’ll walk them through how to do it together on Zoom,” Wiley said.

The games and activities at the drive-through included a short rhyming exercise and a bean bag toss. Participants got to pick a pinwheel flower to take home and win a prize at a spinning wheel.

Prince William Adult Day Health Care is licensed by the state and serves cognitively impaired adults 18 and older who need daily support and supervision. “The Adult Day Health Care has a primary focus on Dementia offering person-centered, individual and group-based cognitive, physical, expressive, social activities, meals, personal care assistance and health monitoring for overall well-being,” Wiley said.

The drive-through was meant to give the participants a little glimpse of what might come as the threat of COVID wanes. “Hopefully, this will give them a little boost of hope and keep them going for the better days that are coming,” Wiley said.