Planning Resources by Setting: Long-term, Acute, and Chronic Care

Individuals living in long-term, acute, and chronic care settings are among the most vulnerable populations during a public health emergency. Therefore, it is important for caregivers and planners who care for persons residing in these settings to be prepared and know how to respond in the midst of an emergency. The following resources are intended to provide guidance and assistance for long-term, acute, and chronic care facilities on how to plan for public health emergencies.

Healthcare Preparedness and Response Team Tools

• Long-Term, Home Health, and Hospice Care Planning Guide for Public Health Emergencies
  The Long-Term, Home Health, and Hospice Care Planning Guide for Public Health Emergencies was developed to help improve the planning efforts of these healthcare entities and their coordination and integration within the community. This Planning Guide focuses on six topic areas: situational awareness, continuity of operations, facility or agency operations, crisis standards of care, staffing, and fatality management. Each topic area is presented in a manner that allows the user to develop needed sections in a facility or agency’s emergency preparedness and response plan.

Other Tools

• AHRQ Emergency Preparedness Atlas: U.S. Nursing Home and Hospital Facilities
  This Atlas was designed by AHRQ to support state and local planning and response efforts for a bioterrorism or other public health emergency. It is intended to stimulate discussion about how nursing homes may be used to handle a surge of patients in response to emergency situations.
• Emergency Planning Checklist [80 KB / 6 pages]
  CMS developed this tool for persons in long-term care facilities and their family members, friends, personal caregivers, guardians, and long-term care ombudsmen.
• Emergency Preparedness Checklist for Long Term Care Homes [74 KB / 5 pages]
  This checklist was developed by the Survey & Certification Division of CMS to evaluate current preparedness plans for every emergency.
• Nursing Homes in Public Health Emergencies: Special Needs and Potential Roles and Appendix B: Model Long-term Care Preparedness Needs Assessment
  This AHRQ assessment tool provides background about the preparedness level of nursing home administrators and staff on disaster plans, including bioterrorism response. The findings in this document assess the special needs of the older adult population in nursing home settings during a public health emergency.
• Pandemic Influenza Workbook for Long Term Care Providers [1.71 MB / 92 pages] The California Association of Health Facilities provided this workbook as guidance to long-term care providers and to explain what providers should consider in preparing and making preparations for an influenza pandemic.

Reports and Guidance

• AARP Tips to Help Older Americans Prepare for Emergencies
  AARP has compiled a list of resources to aid caregivers of older adults with preparedness planning.
• Caring for Vulnerable Elders during a Disaster [215 KB / 62 pages]
  This report is provided by the Florida Health Care Association looking at ways state and local leaders can keep vulnerable elders and other persons with disabilities residing in long-term care facilities safe during a disaster.
• Kidney Community Emergency Response Coalition
  This website provides patients, providers, and public health emergency coordinators insight into emergency and disaster preparedness for the entire end-stage renal disease community.
• Interim Guidance for Influenza Outbreak Management in Long-Term Care Facilities