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Understanding barriers to effective management of influenza outbreaks by residential aged care facilities
Author(s) -
Huhtinen Essi,
Quinn Emma,
Hess Isabel,
Najjar Zeina,
Gupta Leena
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12595
Subject(s) - outbreak , aged care , medicine , infection control , long term care , telephone interview , environmental health , family medicine , nursing , virology , pathology , social science , sociology
Objective To identify the perceived barriers to the implementation of the Australian national guidelines on influenza outbreak management with Sydney Local Health District ( SLHD ) residential aged care facility ( RACF ) staff. Methods All SLHD RACF s were invited to participate in a telephone interview. The questionnaire collected information about demographic characteristics and participants' level of agreement with statements regarding perceived barriers to implementing the national guidelines for influenza outbreak management. Results Twenty‐eight of 61 RACF s (46%) participated in the study. The three most common barriers identified were as follows: scepticism towards staff influenza vaccination (n = 13, 46%); the effort required to read the national guidelines (n = 11, 39%); and lack of infrastructure to physically separate residents during an outbreak (n = 10, 36%). Conclusions We recommend implementing and evaluating programmes which address misconceptions about influenza vaccination amongst RACF staff. Further, all RACF staff, including care staff, should receive targeted education on the role of infection control in influenza outbreak management.