Using the data: A Residential Aged Care Provider’s experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia.
Christine Hunt1, Helen Freshfield , 1Eldercare, Eastwood, SA, Australia
Background
Eldercare is a multi-site Residential Aged Care Provider in South Australia providing care to over 1000 residents and employing approximately 1700 staff.
At the commencement of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia a process of tracking all COVID-19 cases in residents and staff at our facilities was required.
Method or Actions
•Developed data collection tools and processes that allowed for timely upload of information about COVID cases, vaccination and antiviral use.
•Commenced regular reporting of data internally to all key stakeholders and the organisation’s Incident Management Group
•Regularly analysed data and use it to conduct risk assessments and inform decisions around the organisation’s outbreak response and management.
Results
Data collected and reports produced promoted optimal resident outcomes by:
•providing support for key decisions and changes in outbreak prevention and response management strategies, such as respiratory fit testing, vaccination promotion, anti-viral access, ceasing routine mask use and lifting visitor restrictions.
•prompt analysis of rising trends, outbreaks, and impacts of interventions.
•comparing information across multiple sites to identify any sites that were outliers, and learning from these
•comparing Eldercare’s experience against state and nation-wide data
•guiding resident/family and staff communications
Conclusion
This process allowed Eldercare to use real-time data to track the progress of the transmission of COVID-19 throughout its multiple sites. The impact on residents and staff during the occurrence of each “wave” was clearly demonstrated and allowed for timely and effective management to reduce the burden of disease across the organisation.
Biography
Christine has been a Registered Nurse for over 45 years. She has Bachelor of Nursing, a Graduate Diploma in Infection Control and a Masters in Clinical Science. Since 2008 she has worked in the Aged Care Sector in South Australia. In her current role as Compliance Consultant, she is part of the Governance, Risk and Compliance Team which provides support and guidance across 12 residential aged care facilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic Christine also worked as a Nurse Consultant, in the Infection Control Service, Communicable Disease Control Branch – COVID Operations, in the South Australian Department for Health and Wellbeing.