The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is spotlighting an educational campaign to help long-term care medical directors and clinicians prevent antimicrobial resistance and protect the health of their residents.
The new campaign, announced during the American Society on Aging conference in San Francisco, is an addition to the larger Campaign to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Settings launched in March 2002. It focuses on four key strategies for preventing antimicrobial resistance in healthcare settings:
1) preventing infection
2) diagnosing and treating infection effectively
3) using antimicrobials wisely
4) preventing transmission of drug-resistant pathogens.
The program provides 12 easy-to-follow action steps that clinicians can immediately implement to prevent antimicrobial resistance in long-term care residents. The action steps derived from existing evidenced-based guidelines and recommendations developed by CDC and other organizations.
“Developing and implementing prevention and control programs for antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in long-term care facilities are especially challenging because of the unique nature of these facilities and their residents,” said Dr. Denise Cardo, director of CDC’s healthcare quality promotion program. “This campaign provides a simple program to combat this problem in long-term care facilities.”