Coeur d’Alene musician plays music for senior, assisted living facilities

June 4, 2020 7:46 PM

Elenee Dao,

Posted: June 4, 2020 7:46 PM

Updated: June 5, 2020 7:44 AM

by Elenee Dao

HAYDEN, Idaho — As Idaho moves forward in reopening, visits to assisted and senior living facilities are still not allowed. It’s been nearly three months since some residents saw their families in person. However, one Coeur d’Alene man is paying them a visit with some music.

There is so much going on in the world right now between the protests and the pandemic.

On the corner of Honeysuckle Avenue in Hayden, on Thursday around noon, things were peaceful.

Some of the people living at Peterson Place Assisted Living haven’t seen their families in months because of the coronavirus.

“We’re not allowed to have any visitors right now, so it’s been a strain on everybody. Everyone’s feeling a little disconnected and our residents don’t typically understand why, so it’s very kind of confusing, but we’re getting by the best that we can,” said Heidi Peterson, the owner of Peterson Place.

In Idaho’s Rebound plan, visits to senior living homes will be allowed in Stage 4, which is supposed to start on June 13 if there is no significant rise in cases.

“We’re a little disappointed like everyone else, but it’s a lot better than the virus,” said Dale Arthur, a resident.

Some people at Peterson Place are also on hospice care.

“We’ve seen some of our patients be hit hard with some of this isolation, a lot more depression, they’re more withdrawn,” explained Heidi Von Lind, with Auburn Crest Hospice.

Thanks to Adam, or also known as Ethereal in E, he’s giving those residents a little bliss with some music.

Adam plays a handpan; it’s a member of the steel drum family. He’s been playing it for years now, bringing it around to different senior living facilities to bring residents some joy. Of course, with the coronavirus, things have been a little different.

“In the past, I would just come right in and sit in the living room and be able to have that face to face interaction, shake their hands, give them a hug, say ‘Hello,'” he said. “Now it’s much more distant, as I have to be outside when I perform and I can’t be very close to them.”

But, that’s OK, because he and the residents can feel that connection when he plays the handpan.

Watching Adam, it gives the residents something else to do, too.

“It’s a break in the eating and sleeping,” said resident Shirley Arthur.

Adam says he enjoys these visits and playing for the residents.

“For me it’s just about bringing more brightness to their day. I know that a lot of times they don’t get very many visitors or they don’t’ have much exciting things happening in their daily lives,” he said.

So, he just plays for them; Tapping his fingers on different parts of the handpan to let out a melodic sound for the residents.