Dr Adeshola Abati1
1Northen Inter-tribal Health Authority (nitha), Prince Albert, Canada
Biography:
Dr. Adeshola Abati is board-certified Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Practitioner with over 15 years of work experience in various healthcare settings in developed and developing countries. He is a physician by training, but his passion for the control of infectious diseases made him pursue a career in IPC.
Abstract:
Issue: The rate of Healthcare-Associated Infections has been increasing gradually over the years in Indigenous (First Nations) health centres in Northern Saskatchewan. Compliance with Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) best practices is recommended to prevent the spread of infections in healthcare settings. Yet, this remains a challenge in many First Nations health centres. Therefore, the IPC working group members examined different ways to improve IPC practices in health centres under the jurisdiction of the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA). Support visits with an educational session were identified as the most appropriate intervention. To guide these visits, a checklist was developed to assess IPC practices in three major areas, namely, administrative practices and surveillance, Environment of care, and Hand hygiene practices. During each visit, the checklist was used to initiate discussion and identify areas for improvement. Each visit concluded with an educational session that was tailored to address the areas for improvement that were identified. After each visit, the IPC Advisor sends feedback of the support visit to the facility's health directors for action on areas that require attention. The support visit to health centres started in 2017 and is ongoing.
Result: The support visits have led to an increased hand hygiene compliance rate, adequate knowledge of infection prevention in the healthcare settings, and increased collaboration between the IPC Advisor and nursing managers.
Lesson Learned: Face-to-face communication through support visits is a cost-effective way to prevent the spread of infection and improve IPC practices within existing resource levels.