A New Normal: Screening & Admission During COVID-19

Article by Tracey Diani

Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash. For use with attribution.

The world as we’ve known it has come to a complete halt. Schools are closed, businesses have shut their doors, farms are losing their crops, and millions of people are adapting to a new way of life that very few ever imagined would happen in their lifetime. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on cities, states, and countries around the world. 

As we all adjust to new ways of life, some things are still very much the same. The need still exists for people to receive care. There are specific challenges for caregivers who are tasked with providing intimate care and assistance with activities of daily living, yet this time, our seniors greatly rely on top-tier caregivers who are essential workers. 

Invaluable methods of adjusting include teleconferences and video screenings, which have become extremely vital pieces to the placement puzzle as we search for the ideal placement for patients.

As a lifelong optimist, I cannot help but accentuate the silver lining I see in the near and distant future for us all. An adult foster home provider is now able to conduct the screenings and assessments over the phone and in live video calls. It’s small adjustments such as these that are opening our minds to new ways of running adult foster homes.

This option means owners and operators can schedule multiple screening appointments and gather much-needed information from home. Providers can make multiple calls to all the necessary parties involved together with all the information they need to make an informed decision regarding admission of new residents.

I want to share five ways to integrate new admission policies and options in your home during the pandemic: 

1. Request a COVID-19 test be completed prior to admission, and be sure to check the State's list of facilities with positive COVID-19 cases.
2. Get in touch with the potential resident and family to schedule a video conference.  Some facilities may offer appointments through Zoom, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, Google duo, Facebook Messenger or other platforms.  You may even want to give a virtual tour of your adult care home and the bedroom they would be living in. You may want to schedule more than one video appointment throughout the week at different times of the day to give you more perspective on the person's situation.  Sometimes a phone call will do the trick to obtain all the information you need as well.
3. Request medical records that indicate diagnosis, current medication list, important contacts, and other important information to be emailed or faxed to you.
4. Be in constant contact with the discharge planners, social workers, case managers and diversion transition workers who are involved in the care and placement of your potential resident. It is so important for the people you are working with to have an idea of your timeline and whether or not you are planning to admit the individual. 
5. As soon as you have made a decision whether or not to admit, communication with the resident and all other parties involved is paramount.

Keep in mind, policies and procedures around wearing masks, social distancing, going out in public are changing weekly if not daily. Please be sure to call the institution that you are working with, whether it’s a hospital, post acute rehabilitation center, nursing home or assisted living facility, please check with them to see what their policies are and help them to keep them in place.

I see a glimmer of hope as humanity comes together during times of crisis. I encourage all of us to take a moment to reflect on the good things we have in our lives, and some positive changes. We can use new options to effectively screen and admit residents. We can adjust to our new normal and make it through this together.

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About the Author
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Tracey Diani is a consultant & training support coordinator with Oregon Care Home Consulting & Training.

​Email Tracey

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