Outbreaks of COVID-19 have been rampant in assisted living facilities. Studies by the CDC have shown that people living in assisted care facilities are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 and an increased risk of severe illness.
While increased disinfectant protocols are being mandated in commercial spaces, people with limited mobility may struggle to clean their personal items and homes throughly after venturing out for basic medical appointments or groceries. This, in turn, can increase the potential for COVID-19 transmission.
Similarly, the staff at assisted care facilities are often already overtaxed by daily care procedures and requirements. This can mean that disinfectant protocols are glossed over, even when the stakes are as high as the daily fight against COVID-19 outbreaks.
However, there is a solution. Commercial cleaning companies like CST can provide COVID-19 compliant regular cleaning services to protect the health and wellbeing of your loved ones.
House Cleaning For People with Limited Mobility
If you have a loved one with limited mobility who also lives in a large house, it can a lot of work to keep it clean. This is especially so if they’ve recently undergone surgery and are recovering, or if they’re experiencing limited mobility in general.
When people hear the idea of house cleaning services they usually think of a wealthy family with cleaners polishing the silver. It’s an image put in our heads from movies, but it’s really a lot simpler than that.
From dusting to cleaning areas like tubs that can be hard on the back, our crews can take the struggle out of keeping your home welcoming, orderly, and clean.
We’ll help you or your loved one to:
- Mop floors and clean surfaces
- Dust hard to reach areas
- Vacuum carpets and upholstered furniture
- Empty trash containers
- Clean bathrooms and fixtures
- Sanitize commonly used items like remote controls
- Sanitize other commons surfaces like door knobs, counters, and end tables
Our Simple, Reliable Cleaning Programs Make Their Lives Easier (as well As Yours).
This can be a big load off their minds. By outsourcing the effort to keep their home clean and sanitized, they know that their home is going to stay beautiful all month. Cleaning the floors and walkways and keeping surfaces regularly disinfected can prevent COVID-19 transmission, as well as a lot of the general colds and inconvenient sicknesses people experience.
The other benefit of regular cleaning in the home is the reduction of trip hazards. If your loved one is already experiencing limited mobility, avoiding an extra doctor visit is always a plus.
Similarly, if you know your loved one’s home is being cared for, you can rest easier. You don’t have to lug your carpet cleaner over to their house or worry that dust is building up on all the bookshelves. You can trust that when you go visit your loved one, you can focus on just that: visiting and spending time together.
Don’t Wait to Advocate for Increased Cleaning At Your Loved One’s Assisted Living Facility.
Keeping an assisted living facility clean isn’t simply a nice sentiment for a brochure or an act that’s good for monthly numbers.
Unfortunately, sanitation protocols can fall by the wayside, even during a pandemic.
Lack of Cleanliness at Care Facilities Has Led To Lawsuits and Often Stems From Being Understaffed.
Aspects of the modern economy present challenges for assisted living facilities and those like them. From changes to what insurance and government support will cover (or won’t) and inflation, many of these facilities have felt the pressure to take cost-cutting measures.
Often that involves staff.
This is the sort of thing that can sneak up on a facility administrator, because it’s easy to looking at the status quo and feel like things are still being handled at an acceptable level. When that’s the case, the admin doesn’t feel the need to address staffing concerns, or may even feel like further cuts would be manageable.
In actuality what often happens is that little things fall through the cracks — the kind of things that don’t create obvious problems right away. And so here and there a corner is cut to finish checklists in the allotted shifts, which over time adds up to some real health concerns for patients.
Especially if it’s a patient or two in particular that, for whatever reason, are the ones for which corners are being cut.
- If staff members don’t fully and properly clean areas where food is prepared or eaten, for instance, there’s a chance the food can become contaminated.
- If high-touch objects like tables, chairs, and doors aren’t regularly sanitized — even if they’re only missed here or there — transmission of disease increases.
- Any neglect of bathrooms, or staff not regularly encouraging patients to wash their hands after using them, can increase transmission of disease.
Any time an interested party can establish a pattern of neglect in patient care and sanitation, it forms the basis for a lawsuit. Despite desires to cut costs, none of those measures are worth anything if they result in a costly lawsuit that likely outweighs any revenue previously saved.
Industry studies show that the biggest link to inadequate hygiene at nursing homes is understaffing.
Water Temperature Standards & Cleaning
This is another easily overlooked area that can lead to problems. Health codes for these types of facilities require a minimum of 140 degrees Fahrenheit water to be used while washing linens, bedding, and towels. This ensures bacteria is killed off beyond what the soap is doing.
For dishes and kitchenware, typical applications are even hotter.
On the other hand, hot water for bathing should never be hotter than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The use of limiters and controls is ideal here.
You Have a Right to Press for Increased Sanitation
Even if it feels like the administration of your loved one’s assisted living facility is far to busy to talk to you — or that they have everything under control — you have a right to be heard.
You can quickly (in person or in writing) advocate with the administration of an assisted living facility to bring in a commercial cleaning company like CST to carry out regular cleanings.
Being prompted, especially by multiple families, that there are support systems out there that will relieve some of the burden of daily cleanings will remind administrators that what may seem to be an extra expense is actually peace of mind for everyone.
COVID-19 Compliant Cleaners You Can Trust
And of course, any time you’re letting someone enter your home, you want to know they are trustworthy. We take that very seriously at Carolina Services of the Triad and background check all our employees, and employ strict training practices to ensure everyone one our team is the type of cleaner you can trust.
We’ve been serving the Kernersville and surrounding areas of NC for over 20 years as a family-owned company, and have a commitment to eco-friendly cleaning methods that don’t leave strong odors behind. Everything we do is pet and kid-friendly, and shouldn’t trigger any kinds of allergies.
We think that’s an important distinction for residential cleaning since it’s where you’ll be right after the cleaning is done. It’s tough to rely on “just let it air out for a few hours” kinds of thinking. In this case, you won’t have to.
If one of your loved ones is in an assisted living facility or struggles with limited mobility, you have every right to demand the highest possible standards of cleanliness for their protection.
Contact us today to get a quote for cleaning and disinfecting a home or care facility!