Flu: return of barrier gestures, fragile establishments, highly sought-after staff… Aveyron nursing homes under pressure

Des mesures ont été prises pour limiter l’impact de l’épidémie. Centre Presse – Archive José A. Torres

While the peak of the flu epidemic has not yet passed, establishments welcoming elderly people in Aveyron are particularly vigilant in order to protect their residents despite difficult working conditions, in already fragile nursing homes.

The flu epidemic continues to intensify in France. Around 90 hospitals had already triggered their white plan, allowing them to set up a specific organization to absorb the influx of patients, including the one in Rodez.

Still in France, in the middle of the week, 184 flu outbreaks were declared in medico-social establishments, mainly nursing homes. The directors of these establishments are therefore particularly vigilant in order to protect their residents.

For Pierre Roux, director of several establishments in Aveyron and national president of the AD-PA (Association of directors serving the elderly) expresses his concern while the peak of the epidemic has not yet been reached, according to the health authorities.

Covid-19 trauma

“This year, the flu is particularly severe and requires the utmost vigilance on our part. Little by little, we are putting back in place barrier gestures, hand washing, wearing masks, ventilating premises, vaccination, etc. All these measures are essential to push back the epidemic and must be applied with the utmost determination”, insists Pierre Roux.

And nursing homes all the more so, which “are particularly sensitive to this type of epidemic”. “The trauma of the Covid-19 period is still fresh in everyone's minds. Traces remain,” says the director of the establishment.

A highly sought-after staff

These long weeks when residents had to be confined, for some without the possibility of contact with their loved ones, the cancellation of activities, the many deaths recorded, etc. “Fortunately, we have kept certain reflexes such as the rapid implementation of barrier gestures. And, if we could hesitate a few years ago, today we no longer hesitate, for example, to cancel a ceremony of vows. Even if it is a difficult decision because for our residents, this kind of event is very often synonymous with cohesion and living together” , explains Pierre Roux.

Already fragile establishments

Overall, at least in the department's establishments, the flu epidemic seems to be contained. But this episode puts even more strain on structures that “are already very fragile”. “While we are already looking after fragile, even very fragile people who require very special attention”, adds Pierre Roux.

There is also the vaccination coverage of nursing home staff, which is far from optimal. “And while we would need more than ten employees in each establishment, when some fall ill it inevitably creates tensions in the care. Especially since taking care of elderly people who are ill requires even more attention and therefore staff”, he concedes.

So far, the nursing homes are holding up thanks, as is often the case, to the selflessness of dedicated staff who are coping despite the difficulties. “And we will of course cope, but we cannot endure this type of episode indefinitely,” deplores Pierre Roux.

“The elderly deserve better”: the answers are slow in coming

More than three months after the action that took place in many nursing homes in France, “The elderly deserve better”, a movement that also involved home services, “we have not seen much so far,” denounces Pierre Roux. We are also thinking about organizing a second episode of this demonstration. The problem of aging is still not taken into account. Obviously, we need to adopt emergency and immediate measures. But we also need to think about a long-term plan term. Next year, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of what was to be the Grand âge law, envisaged as early as 2006. Nothing or little has been adopted since then.”

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