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Nursing Home Residents Hunt 'Turkey' Over Holidays
Residents at a nursing home in Texas went "turkey" hunting this holiday season, pegging a staff member dressed as one of the animals.(Credit: Kip Kruger via Storyful)
AZLE, Texas - An adorable video showed a few Texas nursing home residents hunting for a "turkey" that was really a staff member dressed in disguise.
Azle Manor nursing home administrator Kip Kruger shared the video of him taking cover from residents between trees set up in the facility’s common area.
After a resident scores a direct hit, Kruger — the turkey — drops to the floor.
"This is how I make my residents smile," said Kruger.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.3 million residents are living in nursing homes as of 2015.
RELATED: Depression, anxiety fell as US COVID-19 restrictions ended in 2021: CDC data
U.S. health officials were worried that depression could have been on the rise in nursing homes during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic where visitors were not allowed.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who has called loneliness a public health crisis, points out that much of the world including the U.S. ’’was struggling with remarkably high levels of loneliness before COVID-19."
According to FOX News, the Mental Health Association of Central Florida says the pandemic has had widespread psychological consequences, with isolation playing a particularly devastating role.
"Even the healthiest, happiest person has been affected," Marni Stahlman, the CEO and President told FOX News. "As human beings, we are not set up to be individuals to exist on our own island."
RELATED: Study: COVID-19 diagnosis doubles risk of new mental illness
A study released by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) in August found that 47% of adults sheltering in place say Coronavirus has had a negative impact on their mental health. The impact was deemed to be "major" in almost half of those in that group.
Stemming from that, rises in trouble eating, difficulty sleeping, and depression were reported. 40.1% of those surveyed in July attested to symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder as a result of the pandemic.
Stahlman says even as the COVID-19 vaccine continues to be distributed, the mental health effects remain prevalent.
FOX News and the Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.