A new resident support group in southern California says it is helping educate staff at skilled nursing and assisted living facilities on best care practices in an effort to collaboratively improve care levels in the post-pandemic era.
Pasadena Elder and Dependent Adult Liaisons (PEDAL) is a unique blend of public servants and other professionals, organizers say.
The team is composed of representatives from the city manager’s office, department of public health, fire department, police department, city’s prosecutor’s office, and others.
“We’re staying on top of current needs, trends, what’s happening, who’s misbehaving, who’s behaving really well, and who needs a little extra support,” said Rachel Tate, PEDAL member and vice president of Ombudsman Services at WISE & Healthy Aging, during a Zoom call this week.
PEDAL is all-encompassing, Tate said: In addition to focusing on resident needs, it designs learning opportunities and tools for providers.
This is where the group’s CrIBs system, or critical information bulletins, comes in.
“When a situation happens, it can be condensed into [this] training tool, which is then sent out to all of our skilled nursing providers,” Tate explained, noting that provider and resident identifying information is omitted. “The bulletin is then shared with local providers, and it highlights consequences, patient rights, correct approaches, and general standard of care information.”
One situation that was investigated dealt with the fire department getting a lot of calls to service from seniors housing and care facilities. An examination of the calls led to the uncovering of miscommunications and system failures, said Laura Mosqueda, PEDAL member and professor of family medicine, geriatrics and gerontology at the USC Keck School of Medicine.
What ensued, she said, was the deployment of targeted, relevant team members to ascertain needs within designated facilities. That led to staff training and council meetings, she added.
“We wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page about what to reasonably expect at this level of care, what services are supposed to be provided, and what should be done in the event of an emergency,” Mosqueda said.
Providers are responding well to PEDAL, Tate and Mosqueda said. So much so that many have reached a level of comfort where they can confidently consult with the team about their most urgent needs, they contend.
“Just because a provider is struggling doesn’t mean they don’t want to do the right thing, right?” Tate pointed out.
“We’ve had providers call and say, ‘We don’t know what is expected of the transition of care,’ or, ‘We don’t know how to do this properly,’” Mosqueda said. “If you come forward saying you need help, the PEDAL team is going to step in and help, 100%.”
