The Colorado School of Public Health, Denver, CO, USA.
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, CO, USA.
HERD. 2022 Oct;15(4):28-40. doi: 10.1177/19375867221111478. Epub 2022 Jul 13.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and ASHRAE provided infection control recommendations for the built environments and ventilation systems of nursing homes (NHs). The level of adoption of the suggested strategies is unknown, as little information has been obtained from NHs identifying the strategies that were implemented.
The primary goal of our study was to characterize the built environments of Colorado NHs during the COVID-19 pandemic to assess the level of adoption of CDC and ASHRAE recommendations. Our secondary goal was to identify opportunities and barriers that NHs face as they work to create health-protective built environments in the future.
We used the Nursing Home Built Environment survey to obtain data related to three main categories of CDC and ASHRAE recommendation for Colorado NHs: Resident Isolation, Improved Indoor Air Quality, and Staff Separation/Support.
Key findings included: (1) On average, NHs had 34% of their beds located in single-occupancy rooms; (2) seven (9%) NHs had designated COVID-positive "neighborhoods"; (3) 14 (20%) NHs had common area ventilation systems that were utilizing filters with a minimum efficiency reporting value 13 rating, or higher.
Most Colorado NHs did not fully implement the COVID-19 built environment strategies recommended by CDC and ASHRAE. While there are barriers to the adoption of many of the strategies, there are also opportunities for immediate improvements that can support the health of vulnerable NH populations as we continue to see high rates of aerosolized infectious disease spread in NH facilities.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，疾病控制与预防中心 (CDC) 和美国采暖、制冷与空调工程师学会 (ASHRAE) 为养老院的建筑环境和通风系统提供了感染控制建议。由于从养老院获取的信息很少，无法确定建议策略的采用程度，这些信息确定了实施的策略。
我们研究的主要目标是描述科罗拉多州养老院在 COVID-19 大流行期间的建筑环境，以评估 CDC 和 ASHRAE 建议的采用程度。我们的次要目标是确定养老院在未来创造有利于健康的建筑环境时所面临的机遇和障碍。
我们使用养老院建筑环境调查来获取与 CDC 和 ASHRAE 为科罗拉多州养老院推荐的三个主要类别相关的数据：居民隔离、改善室内空气质量和员工隔离/支持。
主要发现包括：(1) 平均而言，养老院有 34%的床位位于单人居住的房间；(2) 有 7 家（9%）养老院有指定的 COVID-19 阳性“街区”；(3) 有 14 家（20%）养老院的公共区域通风系统使用的过滤器最低效率报告值为 13 级或更高。
大多数科罗拉多州养老院没有完全实施 CDC 和 ASHRAE 推荐的 COVID-19 建筑环境策略。虽然许多策略的采用存在障碍，但也有机会立即进行改进，以支持弱势养老院人群的健康，因为我们继续看到养老院设施中气溶胶传染性疾病传播的高比率。
