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What lessons from the first wave of coronavirus can the care sector adapt for this second wave?

When lockdown started, the care sector swung into action. But in this second wave we must learn the lessons and do even better to protect residents, writes Pam Vasir

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Vulnerable residents risk isolation during the second wave (picture: Getty)
Vulnerable residents risk isolation during the second wave (picture: Getty)
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What lessons from the first wave of coronavirus can the care sector adapt for this second wave? Pam Vasir from @A2DominionGroup explains #UKhousing

For care residents, losing communal areas, cancelling hairdressers and restricting visitors “can very quickly lead to a sense of isolation that is almost as threatening for residents as the virus”, argues Pam Visar of @A2DominionGroup #UKhousing

All the evidence suggests that the UK is now entering a second wave of COVID-19.

With this comes an inevitable new raft of restrictions on our lives and interactions, the most serious of which centre around the contact we can have with our loved ones.

While this is hard for all of us, it can be devastating for the residents of extra-care homes. Many housing associations are already having to limit access for the safety of their staff and residents, ahead of official government restrictions everyone in the care sector expects to come in soon.

“When measures such as closing communal areas and non-essential services... are combined with the reintroduced ban on visitors, it can very quickly lead to a sense of isolation that is almost as threatening for residents as the virus”

With this being the case, it’s important that we revisit the actions we took when faced with similar circumstances the first time around and use them as building blocks to be better prepared for what will be an exceptionally challenging winter for our sector.

Safety first

At A2Dominion, the process of making our extra-care homes safe in the early days of the pandemic began well before any government intervention. Guided by our rapidly assembled COVID-19 working group, made up of a range of people from senior managers to frontline staff, we made the difficult decision to close all communal areas and restaurants in our homes.

Thankfully through this early intervention, along with following the usual guidelines around hygiene, we have avoided any major outbreaks in our homes and kept staff and residents safe.

The lesson here is not to wait for government or any other bodies to deliver top-down instructions on keeping people safe. For legitimate reasons, central organisations will always take some time to get into gear on these things.

Pool knowledge from across your organisation to allow early intervention and you will have the best chance of weathering this second wave with as little harm as possible.


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Make sure no one is alone

When measures such as closing communal areas and non-essential services, including hairdressing for residents, are combined with the reintroduced ban on visitors, it can very quickly lead to a sense of isolation that is almost as threatening for residents as the virus.

We have tried to counter this by keeping our residents as connected, informed and engaged as possible. The tablets we provide have been invaluable for residents to communicate virtually with family where possible.

Imagination and innovation from staff should be encouraged and activities, such as a socially distanced singalong out of residents’ windows using a speaker in the car park, can make all the difference. In our properties, this is supported by a weekly newsletter to all the residents in our older person services, with information about what’s happening in their scheme this week, exercises they can still do during lockdown and ideas for fun games to play.

“Even if their family can’t visit and remote calls don’t offer the same comfort, just having the company of staff at the same time they would usually have visitors can make a huge difference”

Whatever the content of these newsletters and other communications, the most important thing is that residents feel involved in what is happening. This comes from written communications but also in everyday interactions with care staff.

The latter is especially crucial for residents with more complex needs such as Alzheimer’s disease or other conditions that limit people’s capacity to understand why these new limitations are in place. These are also people who also invariably rely on contact with people they are comfortable with as well as routine, without which they are at risk of rapid decline.

In these instances where the resident’s confusion is exacerbated by change, making sure they have some consistency is the most important thing. So while our restaurants are closed, our catering staff are still working hard to ensure vulnerable residents can have their favourite foods taken to their rooms at the times they are used to.

Even if their family can’t visit and remote calls don’t offer the same comfort, just having the company of staff at the same time they would usually have visitors can make a huge difference.

Like all things, the key in delivering the best for residents is to make plans early. Changes that are made slowly avoid one jarring day when the routine suddenly breaks and making sure staff are aware of what is coming gives them the best chance to keep everyone happy and safe.

A second chance

The first wave of COVID-19, and the speed at which it spread, took everyone by surprise. As proud as we are of our response, this time around we have the lessons from the first wave and the many measures that are still in place from that time to call upon.

Although everyone is still under great strain in their day-to-day work and the pressures of coronavirus have never gone away, our sector must do everything possible now to prepare for the difficult winter that is coming. Failure to do that now will inevitably lead to bigger, and avoidable, problems down the line.

Pam Vasir, director of supported housing, A2Dominion

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