Super Heroes Saving Lives
Campaign encourage health care workers to ‘keep up their tremendous work’
PEABODY — Adam Berman, president of Chelsea Jewish Lifecare, knows that many health care workers might be growing fatigued from nearly a year of following pandemic protocol.
“When you have a crisis, you have this burst of energy, but as things keep dragging on, you might need another shot in the arm if you will,” he said. “If you are running and you don’t have any end in sight, you might just stop there, but if you know there is a finish line or some sort of end, that can be motivating enough to get you through.”
Berman said there is no evidence of the staff at Chelsea Jewish Lifecare, which includes the Jefferey and Susan Brudnick Center and Harriet and Ralph Kaplan Estates in Peabody, are becoming more lenient with COVID-19 protocol, but he said leadership launched the “Super Heroes Saving Lives” campaign to encourage staff to “keep up their tremendous work.” The campaign is also intended to educate both staff and residents about the new coronavirus vaccines.
“The message really is ‘you’ve been doing an amazing job, and now with the vaccine there is a light at the end of the tunnel,’” Berman said. “Lets get through this winter. Nobody has an end date, but the real message is ‘you are almost there.’”
The campaign features a series of videos, in both English and Spanish, which were sent to staff members and displayed on television screens located at some of the Chelsea Jewish Lifecare facilities.
Some of the videos show nursing home residents thanking the staff for everything they’ve done over the course of the pandemic to keep them safe.
“It’s a really nice video,” Berman said. “They thank them and also implore them to keep it up.”
While the videos showing residents are intended to tug at the heartstrings, other videos are more scientific and informational, Berman said.
“Some are more on the rational and medical side,” Berman said. “People receive information in different ways. We really wanted to spread the message far and wide.”
Larissa Lucas, the associate medical director for Chelsea Jewish Lifecare in Peabody, is featured in videos where she explains the science behind the vaccine.
“It’s just so new that I think people were afraid,” she said about the vaccine. “Afraid about how it was approved, about the technology. They were good questions and I was happy to help educate them.”
Lucas said she is very passionate about the vaccine, and enjoys explaining the science behind it.
“I think the technology is absolutely genius and probably the future of vaccines,” Lucas said, adding that she thinks the campaign has been very effective in educating people about the vaccine and also improving morale.
She said it felt important for her to be involved in the campaign because she wants people to view getting vaccinated as a cause for celebration.
“This issue is much bigger than us as individuals, and I think it’s really important to send that message,” Lucas said. “We had so much loss in the spring, and this is a light for all of us and all our residents are so excited and happy and positive about the vaccines, and so are their families and loved ones. People are looking joyfully into the future after so much loss.”
