In the senior care industry, risk management is always going to be top of mind. But add a global pandemic to the mix, for which age is a serious threat, and you are going to be putting out fires in every direction. During this time, management must take additional precautions to ensure that residents – and staff – stay safe.

Chances are, over the past year, many of these procedures have already been put in place within your senior face facility. That being said, now is a good time to take stock of your current risk management protocol, and see if there is anything additional that you could be doing for the health and wellbeing of each individual that passes through your doors.

Streamline notifications

It is important that you get information and updates out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Residents and their loved ones are going to have concerns over new visitation regulations, and questions about how their daily routines will be affected. Staff may have trouble keeping track of all of the new regulations put into place.

There can be a lot of misinformation that goes around, which you will want to put a stop to as swiftly as possible. The best way to do this is to put dedicated individuals in charge of disseminating new info, be it to staff, residents, or the larger community. Make sure that you are directing people to your website, which you are regularly updating to include the answers to frequently asked questions.

Protect the health of your staff

We are coming up on a year of this global pandemic. This time has been particularly draining on the mental and emotional health of employees. You can mitigate things like burnout, sickness, and turnover rates by providing resources that can help lift some of this burden. This could include help with childcare needs, remote work (when possible), and access to mental health professionals.

Manage documentation and mandates

Many insurance companies are still trying to determine how COVID-related claims should be processed. Make sure that you are keeping incredibly thorough documentation during this time of all residents who have tested positive and which staff they may have come into contact with. You should also have a dedicated staff member who is tasked with staying up to date with any new government policies that are put into place and then work with the respective team leaders to fulfill any mandates.

The next several months are likely to be difficult, but by ensuring that these procedures are put into place, you will be able to weather the storm.

 

Photo by Loic Leray on Unsplash