Aging Team Hosts Webinar on Infection Control in the Homecare Setting

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of infection control within health care. For most of the pandemic, virtual visits became commonplace, but with care delivery transitioning back to the home and community settings, it became apparent that refresher education on proper mitigation strategies was needed for practitioners in these areas. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Human Services' Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has the responsibility to ensure that the staff who go into the homes of vulnerable persons living in the community with developmental disabilities have access to up-to-date training during this pandemic.

To achieve this, ODP reached out to the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) to partner in providing an educational webinar for support coordinators and in-home and community support providers. On October 28, JHF and ODP presented the webinar "Safety During In-Person Visits: Infection Mitigation Strategies for Support Coordinators and In-Home and Community Support Providers" to more than 800 participants from across the Commonwealth. JHF Chief Operating Officer and Chief Program Officer Nancy Zionts, MBA, and Senior Quality Improvement Specialist Stacie Bonenberger, MOT, OTR/L, coordinated the webinar. The webinar featured Project Manager and Nurse Senior Quality Improvement Specialist Maureen Saxon-Gioia, MSHSA, BSN, RN, whose presentation included practical tools for in-home workers, families, and clients of ODP. Saxon-Gioia recently rejoined the JHF staff after spending six years working in home care, the last of which was during the pandemic, where infection mitigation was a key focus of her work. JHF has hosted over 40 webinars during the past year for staff working in long-term care and skilled nursing.