The pandemic has taught many lessons on how the aging services industry, and public health in general, can improve. Among the learnings are ways to improve infection control and to build trust around health information through electronic communications.

 Air Filtration Systems

 More air filtration systems are available now, according to “Officials promote air filtration upgrades amid ‘tripledemic.’” It is important to consider how well a system cleans airborne pathogens and to have an expert perform regular maintenance, Natalie Kopp, an adviser on the White House COVID-19 Response Team, told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. She suggested choosing one with a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter over one that uses bipolar ionization.

 Grants may be available to cover the costs. Read the full article to learn how Trinity Health Senior Communities funded its air filtration system.

Kopp noted that portable units can be both effective and budget friendly. Recent research from the Well Living Lab, a collaboration of Delos and Mayo Clinic, supports this recommendation. A field study conducted in a skilled nursing facility used an “infector” room and a smaller “susceptible” room. Results showed that portable air filtration units made the air exchange rate four times more efficient. Particle concentrations in the air, and virus accumulation on surfaces, were up to seven times lower.

The portable units effectively reduced virus accumulation on the sampled surfaces by 44% in the simulated “infector” room and 86% in the adjacent “susceptible” room, said the results. The study also found that opening windows is not a consistently reliable solution for ventilation. Read the study overview for details.

Please also watch for the CAST Infection Control Technology Selection Tool, which will be released in April.

 Health Communications

 Some communications experts indicated public health communications may gain traction when carried out at the local level, according to the Politico article “Lessons from the pandemic messaging mess.” This direction could have implications for aging services providers, who may be in a position of trust and able to convey health care messages effectively to their residents.

 The article featured two doctors who began their own electronic communications to share public health information, with positive results. Katelyn Jetelina, epidemiologist and professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, began the newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist in March 2020. Her goal was to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science and enable people to make evidence-based decisions, said her website. Jetelina suggested to Politico that health care messaging should come through health systems locally, as well as through governments.

 For hospitals, having a doctor serve as a spokesperson could also provide a trusted community voice, Jayne Morgan, a cardiologist and executive director of health and community education at Piedmont Healthcare, told Politico. This not-for-profit community health system operates 22 hospitals in Georgia.

 Morgan herself is a trusted voice. Her video series The Stairwell Chronicles demystifies the science behind medicine and is intended to help people “find a trusted voice amidst the fog,” says its website. Her one-minute videos, in English and Spanish, cover the pandemic and other health-related matters.

Consistent communications from health systems are important, she told Politico, because without them politicized messages can easily fill the gap.