Being the ‘perfect’ aged care visitor during COVID-19

Key points:

• You can elect with an aged care facility to be an ‘essential visitor’ so you can visit your older loved one even during a COVID-19 outbreak
• Ask your aged care provider if they have any additional requirements in place to keep their residents safe
• If you can’t go into an aged care facility, because you aren’t an essential visitor, ask the nursing home to assist with an alternative communication option

Now with new standards and COVID-19 measures in place to keep residents safe and connected with their families, aged care facilities are open to visitors again.

However, providers still work hard to keep both their residents and staff healthy and safe, which means there may be some extra rules and procedures in place.

So what should you be aware of when visiting an aged care home so you can be the perfect visitor?

Aged Care Visitor Industry Code

The aged care sector responded to initial facility lockdowns by developing the Industry Code for Visiting Residential Aged Care Homes during COVID-19. This Code was spearheaded by consumer advocacy group Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia and supported by 13 industry peak bodies.

The point of the Code was to set expected standards for aged care providers, support them to keep older residents safe, and make sure the rights of people in aged care to see visitors were upheld.

In the Code, it outlines how aged care providers should be supporting their residents to receive visitors while remaining safe from COVID-19.

This visitation code was adopted by the Federal Government and allows all aged care residents to have one ‘essential visitor’ that is allowed to visit them at all times, even during a COVID-19 outbreak.

You, or someone in your family, can elect to be an essential visitor for an older person by filling out paperwork for the aged care home.

The aim is to allow all aged care residents to continue to have their mental and physical health needs balanced with COVID-19 protections.

Know your local COVID-19 restrictions

With COVID-19 still sweeping through aged care facilities across the country, you should be across restrictions that are in place in your area.

If COVID-19 is rampant in the community area, then you will likely see your older loved ones’ nursing homes reduce the amount of people that can enter the facility.

If a facility becomes at risk of COVID-19, either because of a COVID-19 outbreak in the facility or a nearby cluster, they may put in place more restrictive measures to protect their residents.

An essential visitor will still be able to enter aged care to visit their older loved one once a day, but you will need to undergo screening for symptoms and your recent movements (like visits to exposure sites or a recent trip overseas).

You will also be required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while in the facility seeing a resident.

If you have an older loved one receiving palliative care in aged care, you will still be able to see them on an ongoing basis. The aged care facility will make decisions around the number of visitors at one time, the length of the stay, the frequency, and the nature of the revisits.

These decisions by the provider should be compassionate and meet the needs of the person who is dying so they have dignity and comfort.

If you are not an essential visitor and can’t visit during a COVID-19 outbreak, contact your aged care provider about other ways you can talk to your older loved one, like through telehealth services or assisted video calls.

Before entering aged care

If you are feeling unwell or have any COVID-19 like symptoms, you should not visit an aged care facility. No matter how severe or how mild the symptoms are. These symptoms include a fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, or shortness of breath.

This is a precaution you need to follow, as no matter how safe you may be, as you are entering a place where people are vulnerable.

Other national restrictions on entering aged care include if you have been overseas in the last 14 days, if you have been in contact with anyone who has had COVID in the last 14 days, and if you are meant to be isolating or in quarantine.

To enter aged care, you must be vaccinated against influenza and you have to bring proof to the facility to show you have been vaccinated with the most up-to-date flu vaccination.

Each State and Territory may have their own nursing home requirements for entering aged care.

For instance, in Western Australia, you need to provide a negative Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and wear a surgical mask inside while visiting a resident. Whereas, in New South Wales you only need to answer screening questions around symptoms and have a temperature below 37.5 Celcius.

Visit your State or Territory Health Department website for more information or contact your aged care provider directly for what their current limitations or requirements are to enter.

Entering aged care

When you are inside the facility, you should be mindful of older residents and try to avoid engaging with people unless necessary.

If you are bringing your children with you to see their grandparents, make sure you keep an eye on them at all times so they don’t wander off or touch lots of surfaces.

Keep your hand hygiene up by washing your hands and utilising hand sanitiser around the facility.

The staff at the facility will tell you of any other requirements you may have to follow while inside their home.

Remember, this is a home for not only your older loved one but for the older loved ones of other families as well so be sure to respect the safety requirements inside the aged care home.

Most States and Territories require a mask to be worn in high-risk settings like aged care, so you may need to wear a mask while visiting a resident.

Call your aged care facility before visiting to see if they have any other specific safety protocols in place.

While inside aged care

When you are inside the facility, you should be mindful of older residents and try to avoid engaging with people unless necessary.

If you are bringing your children with you to see their grandparents, make sure you keep an eye on them at all times so they don’t wander off or touch lots of surfaces.

Keep your hand hygiene up by washing your hands and utilising hand sanitiser around the facility.

The staff at the facility will tell you of any other requirements you may have to follow while inside their home.

Remember, this is a home for not only your older loved one but for the older loved ones of other families as well so be sure to respect the safety requirements inside the aged care home.

Most States and Territories require a mask to be worn in high-risk settings like aged care, so you may need to wear a mask while visiting a resident.

Call your aged care facility before visiting to see if they have any other specific safety protocols in place.

If you can't enter

You may need to use other means of communicating with your older loved one if you can’t enter an aged care facility, for example, if there was a COVID-19 outbreak and you are not an essential visitor.

This could be through phone or video calls, utilising social media apps, sending letters or postcards, or using photo share apps to provide the older person with photos, artwork or home videos.

Read our handy guide on how to stay connected with older loved ones in our article, ‘How to use video calls to stay connected‘.

How has your older loved one’s aged care provider handled COVID-19 visitations? Tell us in the comments below.

Related content:

How to use video calls to stay connected
Mental health services for older people in aged care
The role of advocacy in aged care