Attacking COVID-19 in Senior Living Facilities

Defending Our Elderly Against Coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing businesses and organizations of all kinds to evaluate the cleanliness of their facilities, and many find themselves unprepared for the situation. Doc’s Facilities Solutions, Inc. wants to place special attention on senior facilities for these reasons, and we want to supply information to the public on how we can best care for our aged friends and family. 

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), 31-59% of adults 65-84 years old who have contracted COVID-19 require hospitalization, 11-31% of adults in that age range require admission to an intensive care unit, and 4-11% die of the coronavirus. Adjust the age range to adults 85 and older, and 31-70% of those infected with coronavirus will require hospitalization, 6-29% need to be admitted to intensive care, and 10-27% will succumb to the virus.   

Doc’s Facilities Solutions, Inc. finds these numbers unacceptable, and we are fighting to keep COVID-19 away from seniors. Allow us to show you how.

COVID-19's Threat to Seniors

Senior living communities are full of germs, just as much as schools, childcare facilities, medical facilities, etc. These places often possess their own unique “cocktail” of germs. The germs in a mining office won’t be exactly the same as the ones in a senior long-term care facility. That’s one reason why they must be attended to by highly trained professionals using the latest and best in cleaning equipment, materials, and supplies.

Risky Proximities

Seniors often live in high-density populations in small apartments or individual rooms in one facility. They may eat in communal dining rooms, use communal bathrooms, enjoy amenities like rec rooms, and take shuttles into town. These high-touch areas quickly become hotspots for all kinds of germs to mix and spread.

Germs Live in the Fast Lane

As people age and slow down, they may not be able to clean their environments as thoroughly as is needed. Any place that humans eat, sleep, and bathe will cultivate germs that can cause infectious diseases unless regularly cleaned by a professional team.

Building Up Defenses

Many seniors are immunocompromised or already suffering from an ailment of some kind. Pneumonia and other lung issues kill thousands of elderly people each year, and effects of coronavirus include trouble breathing, which can become acute and require a ventilator. The effort of dealing with multiple issues at once (like heart disease) overstrains the immune system and vital organs of an aged body, making the sufferer weaker and weaker until it’s just too much.

Senior Living Communities

There are several defined types of senior living corresponding to the level of personal and/or medical care needed. By illustrating them, we want to point out how different the facilities are and how customized their cleaning routine must be to their unique needs.

Active Adult Communities

Active adult communities have adjoined or freestanding houses, townhouses, condos, mobile homes, or apartments. One typically must be 55+ to live there. Residents do not require help with daily activities and go about their own business, although there may be access to amenities like a pool or gym.

Independent Living Communities

Homes are available for rent or purchase in independent living communities. These are also called retirement communities or retirement homes. Residents take care of their own needs, but more and closer amenities are included, such as laundry, transportation, and cleaning.

Assisted Living Residences

Assisted living residences offer the same services as independent communities as well as personal care to residents. Staff help residents dress, bathe, and take medication. Some assisted living facilities also have memory care units.

Nursing Homes and Extended Care Facilities

Also called skilled nursing or extended care facilities, nursing homes provide around-the-clock personal and medical care to residents. Some seniors stay a short time, usually to recover from an illness or injury, but others live there.

Continuing Care Communities

Continuing care retirement facilities combine multiple options for senior citizens, from full independence to full-time care. These also allow residents to transfer to a different residence and care level as their needs change.

Senior Community Leadership Responsibility

The first response of a senior living community’s directors should be to educate themselves fully on the situation at hand with information from the local, national, and international public health authorities. This should be used to develop a disaster plan. 

Another vital response is to assemble a team to carry out that plan. This team should include professionals with a range of specialties, from law to risk management to information technology, with clearly defined duties. This team should be in place whether the facility is facing a pandemic or a disaster like a tornado.

Assembling a Pandemic Defense Team

A professional cleaning company should always be one of the resources a senior living community relies on for regular disease prevention and disaster response. This cannot be truer than in a time of pandemic. See below for some information from Doc’s Facilities Solutions, Inc. on proper cleaning methods for senior facilities.

What Clean Means

Cleaning, sanitizing, disinfecting, and sterilization are not the same things. “Cleaning” is often used as a blanket term, but the following are the actual definitions of the words in the world of professional facilities cleaning. 

Keeping Up Appearances

Cleaning means removing the dirt and some germs from surfaces. Notice that cleaning removes germs but does not kill them or even remove all of them. This is what we refer to as “cleaning for appearance.” 

Sanitary Conditions

Sanitizing a surface kills between 50-100% germs and reduces contamination. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers sanitizing adequate for public health. During a pandemic, Doc’s Facilities Solutions, Inc. goes deeper. 

Disinfection: A Thorough Clean

Disinfection is achieved in two steps. First, the surface is cleaned to remove some germs and surface dirt (which germs feed on). Doc’s Facilities Solutions, Inc. applies an EPA-approved disinfectant and allows sufficient dwell time (10 minutes) for the chemicals to kill contaminants on that surface. 

We disinfect all high-touch areas as well as spots that are easily overlooked, such as door jambs, push plates, light switches, water coolers, and copier touchscreens. Disinfection neutralizes both pathogens and non-pathogens at a rate of 99.99999%. 

Sterilization: A Complete Clean

Sterilization is only achieved when 100% of all pathogens and non-pathogens are eliminated. This is rare and is most often done by an autoclave in an operating room. Sterilization is actually not advisable for cleaners to attempt, as it may contribute to germ mutation. 

Proper Cleaning Supplies for Senior Communities

Taking steps to protect senior community residents and staff involves providing resources like:

·        Hand-cleaning products like alcohol-based hand sanitizer in every resident’s room or apartment and in every common area like hallways and dining rooms.

·        Plenty of soap and paper towels in all bathrooms. Paper towels are a better choice than air dryers as they help remove germs rather than aerosolize them. 

·        Waste bins for discarded equipment that will be disposed of by qualified professionals. 

·        Barriers like tissues, face masks, gloves, gowns, and eye protection. We call these Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE. 

More Safety Considerations for Seniors

Disease prevention and response isn’t only about cleaning products and methods. There are general precautions that senior centers can take to reduce risk.

·        As much as it hurts, discourage visits from family and friends. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), coronavirus has an incubation period of 1-14 days in which the carrier may be totally asymptomatic. 

·        Stop holding some events like movie nights in which there are many people together in one place. 

·        At the same time, come up with ways to care for the residents’ psychological needs and try to keep everyone upbeat. 

The Solution to Your Cleaning Issues

Doc’s Facilities Solutions, Inc. is compliant with all industry regulations and cleans for health, not appearance or convenience. We are a member of the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) the world’s foremost trade association for the cleaning industry. 

Doc’s Facilities Solutions, Inc. is operating at an increased rate during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep senior living communities disease-free now and at all times. We can put together a regular

cleaning program, perform a single disinfection, or perform periodic disinfections or sanitizations. Doc’s Facilities Solutions, Inc. also regularly trains existing facility staff as well as augmenting existing staff’s efforts with advanced equipment and procedures. 

Protecting Our Friends and Family

We covet the time we get to spend with our aged loved ones, and more than anything we want that time to be happy and healthy. The elderly are our friends, neighbors, colleagues, mentors, and family. Every time we clean a senior living community, we are caring for people who mean everything to us. They deserve a complete cleaning that protects their health instead of a quick spray and wipe. Email Doc’s Facilities Solutions, Inc. at [email protected] or visit our website at https://docsfs.com/ for more information.