Home Health & Hospice Week

Home care workers are under fire for spreading infections among patients. Home care “has been the fastest growing health care sector for the past 3 decades,” notes a study published in last month’s American Journal of Infection Control. “The uncontrolled home environment, increased use of indwelling devices, and the complexity of illnesses among HHC patients lead to increased risk for infections,” says the study’s abstract.

“The infection risk for patients receiving care at home is high because they often aren’t being looked after by individuals with the same infection control experience that would occur in a hospital setting,” says lead study author Jingjing Shang, assistant professor at Columbia University School of Nursing. “Nurses who care for patients in their homes need to teach patients and their families how to prevent infections, and nurses need to make sure that they tailor this education to a level that’s easy for people without formal medical training to understand,” Shang says in a release about the study.

“Establishing a surveillance system for [Home Health Care] infections, identifying patients at high risk for infections, tailoring HHC and patient education based on patient living conditions, and facilitating communication between different health care facilities will enhance infection control in HHC settings,” says the study’s abstract at www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(13)01460-0/abstract.