On July 28, Governor Doug Ducey announced the establishment of the Task Force On Long-Term Care. The task force was assigned to develop recommendations and metrics on how and when visitation within long-term care facilities can be safely resumed and what steps facilities can take before then to help residents and their loved ones maintain contact.
The members of the Task Force On Long-Term Care released their recommendations on August 25. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) adopted the recommendations and posted the COVID-19 Guidance for Visitation at Congregate Settings for Vulnerable Adults and Children on August 28.
Resuming visitation depends on a facility’s implementation of COVID-19 mitigation strategies and the level of community spread occurring in the community. Community spread is based on minimal, moderate and substantial benchmarks:
The guidance requires long-term care facilities to implement mitigation policies to protect residents, visitors and staff by this Friday, September 4. Long-term care facilities that implement health and safety precautions can allow visitation as soon as this weekend.
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1 thought on “Arizona Long-Term Care Facilities Look To Resume Safe Visitations”
What can be done for people who are in the substantial categories? It doesn’t seem fair to lock them down without any sort of contact with the outside world? People need people to survive and loneliness can kill people! In fact loneliness is killing seniors and vulnerable people right now by the thousands. I’m speaking from personal experience.
My suggestions:
1-Cameras can help. At this point in the pandemic we know know nursing homes are understaffed. The staff is also underappreciated and suffering. Seeing a loved one with cameras can really help. We can’t rely on one activities director to run around a facility to give patients a 15 min call a week. An amazon show or similar device can work.
2-Another suggestion is an outside area where they can at least be wheeled up to an area to talk to others? If you can learn anything look what is happening in Florida. Residents and their families are suffering deeply.
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