margarita25
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Some comments from Dr. Mike on Apr 22 re: long term care facilities / source:
Dr. Michael J. Ryan: (16:07)
“[inaudible 00:16:07] families and they’re continuing to do so and families are doing their best to protect them. What we’ve seen in the context of Europe and North America though are very intense series of individual outbreaks inside longterm care facilities, which have been quite devastating. And the risk of such events occurring into the future, as long as the virus is here, there’s always an opportunity for that to happen. But at the same time it is very difficult to reduce that risk to zero. So I think each country is going to have to look at, “How can we minimize the risk of bringing disease into such a setting?” And there are lots of measures that can be done to minimize that risk. And even more importantly, “How are we going to pick up a signal that something has gone wrong, that there may be a case in that situation and how do we rapidly shut that down and deal with that very effectively?”
And that’s going to be that sort of both the risk reduction and the risk response to an event if it occurs. I’m sure there are many, many, many older people living in longterm care facilities who, at the best of times, are lonely. And for the last number of weeks has been a terrible ordeal for them, both to be further isolated, but also with the constant threat of potentially becoming sick with this disease. As the disease dies down or comes under control at community level, then the risks obviously reduce for those longterm care facilities. But the consequence of disease getting into those facilities I think is clear and stark. So how do we protect and shield our older, oldest and wisest and most precious members of our society while at the same time not entirely cutting them off from the very things that makes us human?
And that’s our ability to be part of a community. And these are trade offs that are very difficult to manage. My own view is that the risks can be managed. They need to be recognized then managed. And if in a situation where we do see disease occur in a longterm care facility, we must be ready to react very quickly to stamp out that disease. It’s also important that carers in these facilities have adequate training, that there’s an adequate design in facilities, there’s adequate staffing in facilities and that we look again at the support, design and environment that we offer for our older citizens.
That those environments are made, not only more comfortable and more human, but also safer. And I believe that can be achieved. And I believe there are lots of ideas on how that can be done. I think we need to maybe also look at the model of the way in which we’re providing care and support for our older citizens. There’s a lot to be done, but I do think it’s a major issue. I think if you look around Europe now and in North America and Canada, a large proportion of the intense disease transmission is actually concentrated in longterm care facilities, which is in itself a tragedy. And it’s also a challenge.”
Dr. Michael J. Ryan: (16:07)
“[inaudible 00:16:07] families and they’re continuing to do so and families are doing their best to protect them. What we’ve seen in the context of Europe and North America though are very intense series of individual outbreaks inside longterm care facilities, which have been quite devastating. And the risk of such events occurring into the future, as long as the virus is here, there’s always an opportunity for that to happen. But at the same time it is very difficult to reduce that risk to zero. So I think each country is going to have to look at, “How can we minimize the risk of bringing disease into such a setting?” And there are lots of measures that can be done to minimize that risk. And even more importantly, “How are we going to pick up a signal that something has gone wrong, that there may be a case in that situation and how do we rapidly shut that down and deal with that very effectively?”
And that’s going to be that sort of both the risk reduction and the risk response to an event if it occurs. I’m sure there are many, many, many older people living in longterm care facilities who, at the best of times, are lonely. And for the last number of weeks has been a terrible ordeal for them, both to be further isolated, but also with the constant threat of potentially becoming sick with this disease. As the disease dies down or comes under control at community level, then the risks obviously reduce for those longterm care facilities. But the consequence of disease getting into those facilities I think is clear and stark. So how do we protect and shield our older, oldest and wisest and most precious members of our society while at the same time not entirely cutting them off from the very things that makes us human?
And that’s our ability to be part of a community. And these are trade offs that are very difficult to manage. My own view is that the risks can be managed. They need to be recognized then managed. And if in a situation where we do see disease occur in a longterm care facility, we must be ready to react very quickly to stamp out that disease. It’s also important that carers in these facilities have adequate training, that there’s an adequate design in facilities, there’s adequate staffing in facilities and that we look again at the support, design and environment that we offer for our older citizens.
That those environments are made, not only more comfortable and more human, but also safer. And I believe that can be achieved. And I believe there are lots of ideas on how that can be done. I think we need to maybe also look at the model of the way in which we’re providing care and support for our older citizens. There’s a lot to be done, but I do think it’s a major issue. I think if you look around Europe now and in North America and Canada, a large proportion of the intense disease transmission is actually concentrated in longterm care facilities, which is in itself a tragedy. And it’s also a challenge.”
I think it’s good to remember that we are all dealing with an unprecedented situation and we are all under some level of stress. It’s easy for these feelings to end up directed at each other instead of at this out-of-control event. So how about we all just assume good intentions and cut each other some slack. We need each other more than we need to argue. Peace out!
