TRENDS IN INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Clinical leadership at the region level and community level
is important – but the success to reduce and prevent infection spread is found by bringing all aspects of our business together – national and regional leadership provided great forethought and vision, business intelligence provided tracking in near real time, procurement acted proactively, facilities educated and cleaned (and cleaned and cleaned), sales and marketing provided outreach education and managed and maintained relationships with com- munity providers. Culinary designed and implemented innovative approaches to dining to maintain wellness and socialization for residents while keeping them safe with distancing and disposable use when needed. Celebrations/activities enhanced the life of our residents when all across the globe were isolated. They were key in education efforts. Our frontline team – from hands-on caregivers and nurses to
front desk reception/concierge – were responsible for monitoring, education and keeping a watchful eye for signs of early infection. Our partners in procurement, home care, MD practices were key to helping us keep our residents in the community whenever pos- sible. Families supported the residents and the staff in unique and unimaginable ways. The overall lesson? It takes a village and ex- cellent communication to manage and prevent infection during a crisis such as the pandemic and on a daily basis.
DR. SCHEKESIA MEADOUGH
Vice President of Clinical and Health Services Aegis Living
What is new and exciting in infection prevention and control for your company? We have learned so much over the last several years of the CO- VID-19 pandemic and one of the most valuable tools we have had is our ability to track and report real- time to learn about trends and get in front of cases even earlier. We now have a live dashboard
across our 36 communities to track all communicable diseases. We track everything from symptoms to length of the virus and much more, helping us to mitigate risks and stop
the spread of potential infections even earlier. What are the keys to running an effective IPC program?
There are so many important aspects of effective infection control and prevention, but success truly comes from the knowledge and experience of our team. That is why training is key. We aim to always stay up-to-date on the latest science and evidence-based practices and offer training and education continually. You really can't train enough. Hand-in-hand is a robust onboarding experi- ence for anyone new to the team. I could list many other things but would reiterate the importance
of tracking and reporting. This knowledge and data is critical as is open communication with our team, residents and their families. Sharing what we know and the latest happenings allows us to stay a unified front. Every person plays a critical role.
12 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
NEW! Infection Prevention and Control Training
The importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) is paramount in senior living communities. The pandemic highlighted the need for IPC
training to equip caregiving staff with the knowledge and skills necessary to take proactive measures to provide a safe and healthy environment for our residents.
This comprehensive training program provides caregivers with a deeper understanding of how to prevent infectious diseases from spreading throughout senior living communities, minimizing risk for both residents and staff.
What lessons did you learn from COVID? We have always maintained a focus on continuous learning and improvement here at Aegis and the COVID-19 pandemic was a time … to keep pushing new boundaries and improving on our high standards. In addition to our evolved dashboard and focused training efforts, I would put enhanced screening at the top of the list. Screening every team member and every visitor that comes into our community has been invaluable to our infection control and prevention efforts. We have always sought expert guidance to build upon our own ex-
pertise and the pandemic certainly solidified this approach, especially when you think about creating our COVID-19 advisory council. The power of technology – no matter what industry you are in – is unde- niable. For us, it meant creative ways to make connections between residents, their loved ones and others when they couldn't physically come into our communities. Technology also offered another way for us to train and engage even more team members across the or- ganization more quickly, especially when time was of the essence. Lastly, our focus to always have the needed safety tools and equip-
ment on hand – and in surplus – is something we ensured pre- pandemic and something we continue to do today. This served us in- credibly well throughout the years and especially during the first few challenging months when supplies were so low. Our team knew we had what was needed to keep them safe and so did our residents.
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