key: cord-0961914-rjjv31f4
authors: Low, Lee-Fay; Hinsliff-Smith, Kathryn; Sinha, Samir K.; Stall, Nathan M.; Verbeek, Hilde; Siette, Joyce; Dow, Briony; Backhaus, Ramona; Devi, Reena; Spilsbury, Karen; Brown, Jayne; Griffiths, Alys; Bergman, Christian; Comas-Herrera, Adelina
title: Safe visiting is essential for nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international perspective
date: 2021-02-26
journal: J Am Med Dir Assoc
DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2021.02.020
sha: 13963452ea2b515177e95423069dbcbcefc32397
doc_id: 961914
cord_uid: rjjv31f4

nan

were permitted to reopen to visitors found wide variability and no consensus on the level of 26 community transmission that is safe for reopening 2 . Furthermore, community transmission 27 data may not be accurate if testing is restricted (e.g. only to symptomatic people or if there 28 is a fee for testing) or not widespread. 29 We recommend that blanket visitor bans not be reinstated by governments or individual 30 nursing homes. A policy against blanket visitor bans has been introduced in the Netherlands 31 and the World Health Organization's updated infection prevention and control guidance 32 asks homes to provide criteria and considerations for safe visiting 6 . In the UK the Joint 33 Committee on Human Rights has indicated that new laws are required to ensure meaningful 34 visits are reinstated for all residents. 35 We recommend that every resident have at least one designated caregiver essential to that Canadian provinces are also giving high vaccination priority to essential caregivers. It is 48 plausible that once vaccination becomes more widely available some jurisdictions will make 49 it mandatory for nursing home visitors to have had a vaccination. 50 We recognise that governments and nursing homes face the difficult balance of protecting 51 residents and staff from COVID-19 while supporting resident, family and staff wellbeing and 52 work within ever-changing guidance and regulations. We stress the need to involve 53 residents, their advocates, families and staff in discussions around safe visiting. If someone 54 lives in the community, they choose the degree of risk that they are prepared to live with. 55 As the nursing home is the residents' home, they have the right to have a say around visitors 56 and to continue their relationships with people outside the home. 57 Our international consensus is that we need to urgently reopen nursing homes to visitors 58 safely and effectively with appropriate consideration of community transmission, nursing 59 home outbreak status, and the preferences of residents, families and staff. With innovation, 60 we can begin to tackle the other pandemic of social isolation and loneliness that has 61 accompanied COVID-19 and been devastating for nursing home residents. 63 The authors have no conflicts to declare 64

COVID-19 and Nursing Home Residents' Rights

Safe visiting at care homes during COVID-19: A review of 69 international guidelines and emerging practices during the COVID-19 pandemic

International Long-Term Care Policy Network

Allowing visitors back 72 in the nursing home during the COVID-19 crisis -A Dutch national study into first 73 experiences and impact on well-being

Care homes and COVID-19 in Hong Kong: how the lessons from SARS were used to good 76 effect

Infection prevention and control guidance for long-term care facilities 80 in the context of COVID-19, interim guidance. Geneva: World Health Organisation

Nursing Home Resident and Staff Covid-19 Cases After 82 the First Vaccination Clinic: The Centre for Health Policy Evaluation in Long-Term Care