Source avec lien : Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, (Prépublication), 7/29/2020. 10.1111/jgs.16784
Dans cet article spécial pour la revue JAGS, l’auteur documente l’impact de la pandémie sur les milieux d’hébergement et de soins de longue durée ainsi que ses effets sur les résidents, leurs familles, le personnel et l’industrie comme telle. L’article présente des projections pour la période de réouverture et détaille des approches ancrées dans la santé publique, les politiques publiques, et les soins cliniques pour « calmer la tempête », répertoriant des recherches et de nombreuses ressources pratiques provenant de sources fiables. En guise de conclusion, l’auteur propose des leçons de cette crise qui pourront aider à préparer le secteur pour les prochaines crises.
The pandemic of viral infection with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 disease has put the nursing home industry in crisis. The combination of a vulnerable population that manifests nonspecific and atypical presentations of COVID-19, staffing shortages due to viral infection, inadequate resources for and availability of rapid, accurate testing and personal protective equipment, and lack of effective treatments for COVID-19 among nursing home residents have created a “perfect storm” in our country’s nursing homes. This perfect storm will continue as society begins to reopen, resulting in more infections among nursing home staff and clinicians who acquire the virus outside of work, remain asymptomatic, and unknowingly perpetuate the spread of the virus in their workplaces. Because of the elements of the perfect storm, nursing homes are like a tinderbox, and it only takes one person to start a fire that could cause many deaths in a single facility. Several public health interventions and health policy strategies, adequate resources, and focused clinical quality improvement initiatives can help calm the storm. The saddest part of this perfect storm is that many years of inaction on the part of policymakers contributed to its impact. We now have an opportunity to improve nursing homes to protect residents and their caregivers ahead of the next storm. It is time to reimagine how we pay for and regulate nursing home care in order to achieve this goal. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.