Covering the Spectrum and More
Residents living at The Virginia Home require around-the-clock care. In addition to providing professional nursing support, we give each person an opportunity to live a life with dignity, respect, and provide each person the chance to pursue personal dreams and enjoy new experiences regardless of the physical challenges one may face.
The Virginia Home provides outstanding nursing, dental, and medical services to ensure the comfort and convenience of all residents. Services and resident amenities include:
24-Hour Nursing
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It takes many talented hands and hearts to make The Virginia Home run smoothly every day, including holidays. The nursing staff plays a vital role in the lives of every resident.
Our nursing staff-to-resident ratio enables our healthcare professionals to have permanent assignments, and provide extensive assistance in activities of daily living such as eating, bathing, dressing, and personal care, all in a way that ensures dignity, comfort, security, and person-centered care.
We also offer on-site dental care for residents.
Nutrition Services
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The nutritional needs of residents are multi-faceted and are an important factor in maintaining a happy and healthy life here. Our Registered Dietitian Nutritionist develops a nutrition care plan for each resident’s medical condition, personal preferences, and needs. We closely monitor and evaluate each person’s ability to chew and swallow, self-feed, and watch for weight loss or gain.
Led by an executive chef, the kitchen staff caters to the individual needs of the residents, offering daily dining choices that appeal to a wide variety of tastes, appetites, and diets.
Choice of food can have a tremendous impact on one’s life, and a healthy lifestyle begins with a healthy diet. Our menu offers a blend of home cooking, seasonal, and specialty meals.
Occupational Therapy
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Our Occupational Therapist and her team help maintain and improve function for residents. Services include provision and maintenance of splints, adaptive feeding equipment, assistive technologies, fall prevention devices, low-vision aids, and adding adaptations to make life easier.
Our aim is to reduce pain or limitations in movement, improve physical function, and to promote general well-being by increasing residents’ awareness of themselves and by expanding their functional movement.
Speech Therapy
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Our speech therapy department strives to help individuals connect and communicate, and give them a voice for self-expression. Through therapeutic techniques and state-of-the-art voice output machines, residents can express themselves to friends, family, and staff.
In addition to communication, our speech therapy team helps individuals who have difficulty chewing or swallowing during meals by providing therapy, staff and family education, and altering diets. They also provide cognitive training in the areas of memory, attention, reasoning, and judgment.
Physical Therapy
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We offer residents the ability to reach and maintain the highest range of mobility possible. Programs are personalized to each resident, and may include:
- Exercises for strength, balance, and endurance
- Range of motion therapy for flexibility
- Assisted walking
We employ a full-time wheelchair mechanic to keep residents’ transportation in tip-top condition. We also coordinate with an orthotist, who evaluates residents for specialized shoes and braces.
Recreation Therapy
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From a swim in the pool to coffee with friends, recreation, and leisure is part of a healthy and happy lifestyle. Our recreation therapy team, led by Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialists and a Board-Certified Music Therapist, break down barriers to leisure by providing social, cognitive, physical, and environmental adaptations so that each resident can pursue his or her unique interests. Programs can include:
- Aquatics and Adaptive Sports – golf, hockey, boxing
- Adventure Experiences – surfing, skiing, rafting, biking
- Special Olympics
- Music Therapy
- Rec Café service daily
- Games and Trivia
- Adaptive gardening and cooking classes
- Arts and Crafts
Community Integration & Transportation
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Supervised by a Certified Recreation Therapist, Community Integration’s goal is to assist residents to be as independent and safe as possible in the community. Individual transport is provided to residents for:
- Work
- School/Classes
- Church
- Restaurant outings
- Visiting family/friends
- Events in the community (sports, concerts, festivals, etc.)
- Volunteering
- Medical appointments
- Stores/mall
- Movies
Thanksgiving and Christmas transports home (locally) and are limited, first-come, first-serve basis. Residents whose families have no means of transporting them will be given priority.
Social Services
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Social workers regularly assess each resident to determine their unique needs and assist each person in reaching their highest level of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. We provide the following services:
- Lead educational groups, collaborate with counseling services, and provide behavioral and therapeutic support while promoting trauma-informed and culturally competent care.
- Offer case management services, including renewing Medicaid, assisting with absentee voting, making purchases, and providing information and referrals.
- Meet with residents to discuss and document advance care planning to ensure their healthcare wishes are honored.
- Coordinate care with outside service providers such as community service boards, therapeutic employment specialists, and community integration providers.
- Work with external organizations like camps to ensure comprehensive support and resources for residents.
Wheelchair Maintenance
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The ability to independently move around the community is a high priority. Wheelchairs are common here, and most use power wheelchairs. Many of our residents need customized chairs to provide comfort, support, and skin protection for full-day sitting.
Therapists are responsible for evaluating and exploring funding sources for wheelchairs and finding the right devices for each resident. Specialized cushions are needed to protect a resident’s skin, and we have a pressure-mapping system to evaluate sitting pressures to help determine the most appropriate cushion. The specifications for the whole system are completed with the assistance of local vendors.
We have a highly skilled wheelchair technician on staff. He accepts wheelchair donations and modifies them for resident use. He also performs routine cleaning and maintenance on all resident wheelchairs.
Adaptive Technology
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We maintain the latest technologies, serving residents’ needs to remain as independent as possible. Power wheelchair drive control methods, custom molded positioning systems, phone access, computer access, mobile tablet access and environmental control units are just some of the things our teams evaluate, provide, train, and maintain.
Travel Scholarship Program
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One of the most enriching programs we offer is the ability to travel. Since 2006, The Virginia Home has provided this opportunity to residents who are medically able through our Travel Scholarship Program.
Each Travel Scholarship accommodates up to four residents, plus professional care staff. All expenses are paid including airfare or ground transport, lodging, meals, and all admission fees and charges at the final destination. This program is made possible by private donations.
Popular destinations include Walt Disney World, Sandbridge, Myrtle Beach, Washington D.C., Nashville, and Caribbean Cruises. Residents who are fans of NASCAR and WrestleMania have traveled to events in Charlotte and New Jersey.
Other Resident & Campus Amenities
- Full-size therapeutic pool and multi-use gymnasium
- Hair salon
- Banking Services
- Library with books, audiobooks, and videos
- Guest Accommodations: A beautifully decorated and comfortable Guest House is located next door. Family members may stay at no charge.
- Tickets to special events, concerts, and cultural opportunities
- Adaptive sporting events and Special Olympics
- Regular speakers and entertainment
- PALS (Personal Assistant Loving Support) Program
- Resident Concierge Services
Celebrating Spirituality
The mission of the Chaplain’s office of The Virginia Home is to support and encourage the spiritual life of residents, their families, and staff in a way that is respectful of each person’s experience of spirituality, faith, or religious expression.
The Virginia Home’s chaplain offers compassionate spiritual support for all residents who seek it.
- Sunday Worship: Weekly ecumenical service open to residents, families, and guests.
- Communion: First Sunday of each month.
- Catholic Mass: Offered monthly in partnership with the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.
Residents can also:
- Join weekly Bible study and other spiritual programs
- Attend their own places of worship with staff support
- Connect virtually with their home congregations
- Request personal visits for prayer, scripture reading, or conversation
- Local church volunteers help enrich our spiritual care community.
The Virginia Home chaplain is an ordained minister with a Master of Divinity degree as well as training and experience in special education.