EMBEDDING AIRBORNE INFECTION PREVENTION BEST PRACTICES IN LONG-TERM CARE HOMES: AN IMPLEMENTATION BLUEPRINT

Abstract

Despite deliberate attention and dedicated resources devoted to infection prevention in long-term care (LTC) homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, patient-focused infection-related outcomes in the LTC sector varied significantly. This study sought to devise a set of approaches and recommendations to support more consistent application of infection control procedures among the frontline LTC home workforce in an effort to strengthen patient-focused outcomes. With a focus on management intentions and implementation practices, this research highlights critical implementation factors most likely to support the uptake of infection prevention behaviours consistent with best practices key to mitigating airborne infections. The research also strives to enable healthcare leaders to be cognizant and attentive to these factors as they go forward with future change management efforts and to provide tools for implementation. This study is guided by the research question: How are evidence-informed infection prevention best practices for transmissible airborne diseases prospectively implemented by leadership into frontline LTC home workers' practices? Using a thematic analysis of the experiences of LTC home leaders and Infection Prevention and Control Leads (IPAC), I found that key concepts related to the successful implementation of infection control practices in LTC included leadership activation drivers, functional roles and supportive entities, competency development, achieving compliance, dissemination methods, contingency development, alerting worker attention and the power of reflecting and reinforcing best practices. This research also provides the reader with a cadre of promising practices and a blueprint of measures and activities for the implementation of best practices. Ultimately, this research contributes to best practices intended to restore public confidence in safe institutional LTC home environments for our society’s elderly population. By providing leaders with a knowledge of implementation factors critical to best practice uptake, LTC home infection outcomes should improve, and more residents will be able to live longer with safety and personal dignity.