Author(s):
Fernandes, Óscar Brito ; Julião, Pedro Lobo ; Klazinga, Niek ; Kringos, Dionne ; Marques, Nuno
Date: 2021
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/123084
Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Subject(s): Care home; Contingency plan; Long-term care; Prepared-ness; Public health emergency; Safety culture; SARS-CoV-2; Social care; Survey; Workforce; Pollution; Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis; SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Description
Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by the ALGARVE BIOMEDICAL CENTER as part of a larger set of projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The participation of Ó.B.F., N.K. and D.K. occurred within a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (HealthPros—Healthcare Performance Intelligence Professionals) that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement Nr. 765141 (https://healthpros-h2020 .eu, accessed on 20 July 2021). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
(1) Background: Nursing homes’ preparedness in managing a public health emergency has been poor, with effects on safety culture. The objective of this study was to assess nursing homes’ COVID-19 preparedness in southern Portugal, including staff’s work experiences during the pandemic. (2) Methods: We used a COVID-19 preparedness checklist to be completed by management teams, followed by follow-up calls to nursing homes. Thereafter, a survey of staff was applied. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and thematic analysis of open-end questions. (3) Results: In total, 71% (138/195) of eligible nursing homes returned the preparedness checklist. We conducted 83 follow-up calls and received 720 replies to the staff survey. On average, 25% of nursing homes did not have an adequate decision-making structure to respond to the pandemic. Outbreak capacity and training were areas for improvement among nursing homes’ contingency plans. We identified teamwork as an area of strength for safety culture, whereas compliance with procedures and nonpunitive response to mistakes need improvement. (4) Conclusions: To strengthen how nursing homes cope with upcoming phases of the COVID-19 pandemic or future public health emergencies, nursing homes’ preparedness and safety culture should be fostered and closely monitored.
