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CARE HOME
ENVIRONMENT Editor Tim Probert
timprobert@stepcomms.com Business Manager
Michael Butcher
michaelbutcher@stepcomms.com Journal Administration
Katy Cockle
katycockle@stepcomms.com
Design
Steven Dillon Publisher
Geoff King
geoffking@stepcomms.com Publishing Director
Trevor Moon
trevormoon@stepcomms.com
THE CARE HOME ENVIRONMENT is published monthly by Step Communications Ltd, Step House, North Farm Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3DR, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1892 779999 Email:
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Tim Probert Editor
timprobert@stepcomms.com
Learning lessons from the pandemic the hard way
Welcome to the January edition of The Care Home Environment, the first of an extended print run to ten issues a year, with a fresh look. We hope you like the redesign. A report published late last month by Collateral Global – co-authored by Professor Carl Heneghan, director of the University of Oxford’s Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine – assessed care home resident deaths in 25 countries during the pandemic. The Effects of Covid-19 in Care Homes
– A Mixed Methods Review found care home deaths, on average, accounted for 30 per cent of total Covid deaths despite approximately one per cent of the global population residing in care homes. Care home deaths as a proportion of total deaths ranged from nine per cent in Lithuania to 64 per cent in New Zealand. Seven countries reported more than 10,000 Covid care homes deaths: Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the US.
ISSN NO. 2398-3280
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The report found strong evidence in the US that the quality of care homes was a factor in the reduction of Covid outbreaks. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), a federal agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services, provides five-star ratings of nursing homes based on three elements: health inspections; staff-to-resident ratios; and metrics such as rates of falls and bedsores, with the first element having the greatest weight in an overall rating. Compared with 1 star-rated nursing homes, the odds of a Covid-19 outbreak were 87 per cent lower among 2 to 3 star- rated nursing homes, and 94 per cent lower among 4 to 5 star-rated nursing homes.
The report found several reported
interventions or factors that suggest the potential to mitigate Covid risk in care homes substantially. Interventions that could reduce mortality include improving the care home quality, increasing staffing levels, reducing the number of beds in the facility, employing staff confinement strategies with residents, and improving clinical care such as implementing daily examinations.
Compared with 1star-rated nursing homes, the odds of a Covid-19 outbreak were 87 per cent lower among 2 to 3 star-rated nursing homes, and 94 per cent lower among 4 to 5 star-rated nursing homes Some care home solutions, like the US
‘Green House’ homes, which usually have fewer than 12 beds, may provide crucial insights into the care home problem compared with larger homes. The report also notes care home residents
faced barriers accessing emergency treatments during the pandemic. The authors conclude that failure to address these problems could mean global care home populations will be similarly affected by future crises and pandemics. Enjoy the magazine.
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