HCAOA The Voice Summer 2020

12 HCAOA The Voice How Do You Prepare a Home to Protect and Prevent? MEMBER NEWS Home Care is a critical piece of how the health care system addresses the COVID-19 pan- demic. Home care is one-to-one, meaning the number of contacts for seniors—the most vulner- able population—is kept to a minimum. And in non-pandemic times, home care represents a $25 billion annual savings in hospital costs—freeing up resources that can be used to treat acute COVID patients. With that in mind, we asked the HCAOA Medical Advisory Coun- cil what home care agencies and caregivers can do to make sure a home is prepared to protect their clients and prevent the spread of the disease. What is the most important thing that a caregiver can do to set up their clients’ homes to limit the chances of transmitting infections like COVID? Which room carries the most risk for disease transmis- sion, and what can caregivers do to mitigate that? Are there different precautions that caregivers need to take in a rural area? Other than PPE, what’s a must-have for clients who require home care? Are there preparations that caregivers can make if their client is in a small space (i.e. a mother-in- law suite, a small apartment in a city)? Request an isolated space to don and doff PPE upon entering and leaving the home. Request an independent sink, if possible, to wash hands with anti-bacterial soap and paper towels. Execute tasks of independent care plan in an efficient manner to maintain proper distancing from the client as much as possible. The dining area carries the most risk as face masks cannot be worn while eating. The kitchen has the majority of items that enter the home from the outside that may carry bacterial germs, i.e. plastics, cardboard, paper. Further, cross contamination may occur if regular dishes and utensils are used in lieu of disposables. A good emergency plan should a client begin to feel ill. A client should have an itemized plan of what steps to take and whom to call if he/she begin to have signs/symptoms of any illness. Further, each client should have a good infection control plan and the caregiver should urged to practice and encourage such at all times. Maintain proper PPE and infection control during the duration of the visit. Request that the client wear a face mask, if agreeable, during the course of the visit. No, universal precautions and infection control as advised by the CDC should be taken in all areas and geographical locations.

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