Nursing Homes
in a Time of COVID
CAFE Technical Assistance to Nursing Homes in
a Time of COVID
Pilot Project in Bend, Oregon
In mid-2020, CAFE launched an innovative pilot project in Central Oregon to support two local nursing homes in the time of COVID-19. The facilities are Regency Care of Central Oregon and Pilot Butte Rehabilitation Center. The project received financial support from Deschutes County and St. Charles Hospital Community Foundation. Recognizing that 40 percent of the deaths from Covid-19 have occurred in long-term care facilities in the US, the key initiatives of the pilot were focused on integrating innovations in best practice care approaches around infection control, community support and humane end-of-life care. Working with design experts from Modern Empathy, project facilitators were able to develop educational cards for skilled nursing facility staff that focused on how best to support themselves and residents during this time of pandemic. Topics highlighted included best practices around mask wearing and handwashing and psycho-social considerations for working with isolated and elderly populations. The cards also focused on the importance of self care for staff. The cards were designed to be accessible, pleasing to utilize and were laminated so they could be easily cleaned and disinfected multiple times throughout a shift.
Recognizing that COVID-19 has brought new challenges and risks to older adults,
including significant isolation and loneliness, the project also engaged community support over the 2020 holiday season. Through volunteer hours donated by the Rotary Club of Bend, over 120 handwritten holiday cards were distributed to residents in the two facilities. The Rotary Club of Bend also sponsored the production of two outdoor signs, expressing gratitude to facility staff for their continued care of facility residents. Pilot administrators will continue to be in dialogue with SNF facility administrators to gauge the efficacy, impact and evolution of the above initiatives.
In the middle of February 2021, CAFE Bend staff conducted a focus group
with key knowledgeable staff from the Central Oregon Parkinson’s Council, Council on Aging, High Desert Village, and Partners in Care to get a better understanding of the unmet needs of older persons in Bend and surrounding areas. We followed the evidence-based eight domains of an age-friendly city to guide our questions. We learned that the unmet needs and challenges of older persons in Bend mirror issues faced by older adults in the focus groups conducted in the Bay Area in California. With the one exception of snow removal and snow blocking bus stops and sidewalks, the concerns are almost identical: a lack of affordable housing, dependable and affordable transportation on demand, and outdoor spaces that accommodate older persons with benches and lighting.
Our inquiry was on the impact of COVID-19. Responses indicate the pandemic has caused significant harm, and in some cases has been devastating. Senior Centers and in-house communal meals have closed and stopped; almost every service has had to shift to virtual and many older persons are unable to utilize smart phones, computers and tablets. Many rural areas do not have Internet access so basic needs of communication and information is impossible. Many older workers and volunteers have had to stop or cut back engagement to protect their health. On the positive side, organizations like Council on Aging, High Desert Village and Partners in Care have made valiant and creative efforts to adapt, manage and work around major challenges posed by the pandemic and the risks to older persons. With the vaccine there are signs that life is slowly returning to a new kind of normal.
