Caregivers at heart: Images from MSF’s work in Houston, Texas, nursing homes

Nursing home staff working with residents on a project

United States 2020 © Christopher Lee

The elderly, and the health care workers who look after them, are among the most vulnerable people to COVID-19. As the pandemic spread through nursing homes and other long-term care facilities across the United States in 2020, it became clear that these care facilities were in dire need of in-person, targeted infection prevention and control (IPC) training. In particular, the environmental services staff (EVS)—the people who clean, cook, and do laundry for the residents—were dangerously overlooked when it came to receiving IPC training, despite the fact that they are a critical part of preventing the spread of disease. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams responded by providing IPC training to clinical and non-clinical workers at 80 long-term care facilities in Michigan and Texas.

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Covid-19: More nursing home staff need training to prevent spread of infection

Nursing home staff have been working long hours, often without the tools and resources they need for effective prevention. Many have experienced the trauma of watching residents and colleagues fall sick and die. Some have become sick themselves. They’ve worried about bringing the coronavirus home to their families, or bringing the disease to residents. Recognizing the extreme pressure these essential staff have been under, MSF teams provided mental health and wellness training sessions at 59 of the facilities where they also performed IPC training.

These are images from MSF’s work in Houston, Texas, which wrapped up in October.

A resident at Focused Care at Beechnut, a long term care facility in Houston, Texas, watches TV inside his room. MSF conducted infection prevention and control (IPC) training and mental health and wellness training with medical and non-medical staff at Beechnut and other nursing homes in Houston during the summer and fall of 2020.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
A resident was visited by a family member for her birthday at Focused Care at Beechnut, a long term care facility in Houston, Texas. During COVID-19, visitors must stand outside on the other side of a window and communicate by phone with the resident.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
A facility staff member helps a resident eat lunch in her room at Focused Care at Beechnut, a long-term nursing care facility in Houston, Texas, that was affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
An environmental services (EVS) staff member cleans a resident's room at Focused Care at Beechnut, a long-term nursing care facility in Houston, Texas, that was affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
MSF's IPC nurse manager Kira Smith and MSF nurse Jonathan Garcia provide infection prevention and control guidance for an environmental services worker at Misty Willow Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, a long-term care facility in Houston, Texas.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
MSF's IPC nurse manager Kira Smith and MSF nurse Jonathan Garcia provide infection prevention and control guidance for an environmental services worker at Misty Willow Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, a long-term care facility in Houston, Texas.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
Three medics standing in a hallway, putting on personal protective equipment.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
Masked woman sitting next to a patient's bedside playing the ukulele for patient.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
Masked man standing in a conference room in front of four masked people who are sitting, explaining things to them.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
A staff member at Focused Care at Beechnut, a long-term nursing care facility in Houston, Texas, participates in a training session on mental health and wellness support for nursing home staff.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee
A group of nursing home staff stand together in a circle self-embracing.
United States 2020 © Christopher Lee

Learn more about Infection Prevention and Control at doctorswithoutborders.org/IPCtoolkit