{"id":2598,"date":"2022-04-28T14:53:27","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T19:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/?p=2598"},"modified":"2022-04-28T14:53:27","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T19:53:27","slug":"infection-control-practices-in-the-home-setting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/infection-control-practices-in-the-home-setting\/","title":{"rendered":"INFECTION CONTROL PRACTICES IN THE HOME SETTING"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of Covid-19, infection control has suddenly become a hot topic across all aspects of our society. \u00a0Did you know though that agencies like Hearts at Home have and have had infection control policies in place for decades?\u00a0 Protecting our clients from contagious diseases, whether it be Covid-19 or the flu, is something we\u2019ve been doing with an excellent track record since our inception in 2004. \u00a0\u00a0Our staff recently underwent their required annual training on bloodborne pathogens and infection control where we focused on the importance of breaking the \u201cChain of Infection\u201d which is referenced in the graphic below.\u00a0 Epidemiologists have identified six key conditions which must be met for someone to become ill with a communicable infection, but all it takes to stop the spread is interfering with one of those links in the chain.\u00a0 Here are some ideas on how you too can practice good infection control every step of the way and stop the spread:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2369\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2369\">\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_2369\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2369\" style=\"width: 624px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2369 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/houston\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Chain-of-Infection.png\" sizes=\"(max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/houston\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Chain-of-Infection.png 624w, https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/houston\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Chain-of-Infection-300x179.png 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"624\" height=\"373\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2369\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a0Personal Care at South Austin TX \u2013 Can Personal Care at Home Aides Help With Infection Control?<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n<p>1. Reduce the number of infectious agents (germs) in your environment by limiting visitors who might be ill and regularly disinfecting high touch surfaces in your home<\/p>\n<p>2. Reduce the number of hospitable reservoirs for germs in your environment (ie: pets, throw out spoiled foods, implement regular pest control practices to keep out pests, use a water filter to keep contaminants out of your drinking water)<\/p>\n<p>3.\u00a0 Minimize portals of exit for germs (i.e.: keep wounds or tears in the skin covered, properly manage bladder and bowel incontinence to avoid leaks\/spills, keep emesis bags handy for anyone with frequent nausea, cover coughs\/sneezes)<\/p>\n<p>4.\u00a0 Be considerate of the mode of transmission for common infectious agents and implement practices to reduce transmission (i.e.: practice good hand hygiene and wash or sanitize hands regularly, wear a mask, avoid touching items that could be contaminated or use barriers such as gloves when contact is unavoidable)<\/p>\n<p>5.\u00a0 Keep broken skin covered and avoid touching your face, nose, mouth, and eyes so you don\u2019t transmit germs into your body<\/p>\n<p>6.\u00a0 Make yourself an unhospitable host (i.e.: eat healthy, take vitamins, exercise) and protect those who are most vulnerable (i.e.: the very old and very young, immunocompromised, unvaccinated)<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>If you or an aging loved-one is considering <span style=\"color: #1abc9c;\"><a style=\"color: #1abc9c;\" href=\"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/services\/acute-care\/\"><em>In-Home Care Services in Austin TX<\/em><\/a><\/span> please contact the caring staff at Hearts at Home Senior Care today. <span style=\"color: #1abc9c;\"><a style=\"color: #1abc9c;\" href=\"tel:5128002293\u00a0\"><em>512-800-2293\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"elementor-image-box-title\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1751 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/houston\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/stacy-bio.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"301\" \/><\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"elementor-image-box-title\">STACEY WELFEL<\/h3>\n<p class=\"elementor-image-box-description\"><strong>Director of Training &amp; Compliance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Welfel serves as Director of Training and Compliance. She has more than 12 years of clinical experience as a neurological physical therapist, most of which was spent working with catastrophic rehab clients at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital. She currently works as a physical therapist and clinical coordinator for Rehab Without Walls, a unique rehabilitation concept providing patients with neurological injuries the functional skills necessary to return to their home and community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home Care at Home Sugar Land Texas-With the spread of Covid-19, infection control has suddenly become a hot topic. \u00a0Did you know though that agencies like Hearts at Home have and have had infection control policies in place for decades?\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[142,8,72],"tags":[308,309,310],"class_list":{"0":"post-2598","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-coronavirus-covid-19","8":"category-general-topics","9":"category-seniors-health-issues","10":"tag-home-care-austin","11":"tag-infection-control","12":"tag-senior-health-issues","13":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2600,"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598\/revisions\/2600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsathome.com\/austin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}