The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Improvement (QI) Voices: Improving COVID-19 Outcomes in Nursing Homes Across America is an audio series that gives you a closer look at the projects and the people who are improving health care quality and outcomes. These brief conversations provide insight into the process behind health care quality improvement – and how you might adapt these to your own organization. Each episode also includes a supplemental resource list.
Deb Arbogast, Medicine Wheel Village Administrator, in Eagle Butte, SD and Keri McDermott, Great Plains QIN Communications Director, were featured in Episode 8: From the Field – A Culturally Inclusive Approach to Address Health Equity and Increase Vaccine Confidence. Increasing COVID-19 vaccine confidence among culturally diverse populations from a health equity perspective is critical to ensuring uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine and booster. In this episode, learn how the OARS+ Model for Motivational Interviewing and other tools helped one nursing home serving Native American residents increase its resident COVID-19 booster rate.
Episode 1: Conversations with the CMS CMO – The Facts Behind the Updated COVID-19 Vaccine: Safety and Efficacy
The new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine provides even greater protection against severe illness and death than the original primary series. In this episode, hear from Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Biologics and Research about what makes the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine different. Get answers to common questions about the updated vaccine and facts about the risks and side effects for the nursing home and long-term care population.
Episode 2: Conversations with the CMS CMO – Long-term Care Treatment Options for COVID-19
Several treatment options are available for nursing home residents who are diagnosed with COVID-19. In this episode, learn from John Farley, MD, MPH from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Meg Sullivan, MD, MPH from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) about the risks, benefits and common side effects of these treatments.
Episode 3: Conversations with the CMS CMO – CDC Programs for COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Vaccination in Nursing Homes
Infection prevention and the use of vaccines is key to reducing the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. In this episode, Nimalie Stone, MD, MS and Arjun Srinivasan, MD from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discuss CDC programs and collaborations that support nursing home efforts to promote infection prevention and vaccination and how health care providers can access the new vaccine for their facilities.
Episode 4: From the Field – Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy in a High-Turnover Population
High resident turnover challenges skilled nursing facilities as they seek to achieve and maintain high resident COVID-19 booster rates. In this episode, learn how motivational interviewing and education addressed vaccine hesitancy and increased resident COVID-19 booster rates within a high-turnover population.
Episode 5: From the Field – Boosting Vaccine Confidence Using Motivational Interviewing and Peer Ambassadors
Cultural experiences within a resident population can contribute to vaccine hesitancy. In this episode, learn how motivational interviewing and peer ambassadors helped one California nursing home increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence and its resident COVID-19 booster rate.
Episode 6: From the Field – It Starts with Your Staff: Stopping the Spread of COVID-19
Nursing home staff play a critical role in preventing COVID-19 spread and mortality in long-term care facilities. In this episode, learn about the infection prevention barriers staff face and what they need to continue doing to be successful in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Episode 7: From the Field – Best Practices for Cohorting and Infection Prevention
Understanding how to adapt basic infection prevention practices during a public health emergency like COVID-19 and how to identify residents who need to be cohorted is vital to reducing the spread of COVID-19. In this episode, learn about best practices for cohorting and COVID-19 infection control.
Episode 8: From the Field – A Culturally Inclusive Approach to Address Health Equity and Increase Vaccine Confidence
Increasing COVID-19 vaccine confidence among culturally diverse populations from a health equity perspective is critical to ensuring uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine and booster. In this episode, learn how the OARS+ Model for Motivational Interviewing and other tools helped one nursing home serving Native American residents increase its resident COVID-19 booster rate.