YOU'RE INVITED TO OUR POP-UP PREPAREDNESS EVENT!
As respiratory illness season approaches, practical infection prevention strategies remain essential to protecting patients, caregivers, and the home health workforce. Following the positive response to last year’s session, we are bringing this Lunch & Learn back, featuring experts from the Maryland Department of Health.
This educational session will explore evidence-based guidance for preventing and controlling respiratory illnesses in home health settings. Participants will strengthen their understanding of how respiratory illnesses spread and learn practical strategies to support safer care in the home, where each environment presents unique considerations.
Join us for an informative discussion focused on translating infection prevention guidance into everyday practice and empowering home health professionals to deliver safe, effective care while protecting the health and well-being of those they serve!
NOTE: This session will NOT be recorded.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Describe common routes of respiratory illness transmission.
- Identify core respiratory illness prevention strategies applicable to home health settings.
- Apply Standard Precautions and select appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) based on the patient care activity and potential exposure risk in the home.
- Describe environmental infection prevention practices, including cleaning and disinfection and strategies to improve indoor ventilation in the home setting.
Who Should Attend? Home health, home care, and hospice professionals, along with others interested in strengthening respiratory illness prevention and infection control practices in home-based care.
Meet Our Speakers:
Daryl Lazaro Hawkins is a certified infection preventionist and currently the MDRO Infection Prevention and Control Lead in the Office of Antibiotic Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infection Response for the Maryland Department of Health. Ms. Hawkins has been a registered nurse for 20 years. She has worked in public health MDRO prevention for the past 5 years. In addition to her public health experience, she has clinical experience in intensive care units and medical-surgical settings and previously worked as an infection preventionist in home health.
Holly Simpson, MSPH, CIC, is an Infection Prevention and Control Specialist at the Maryland Department of Health, where she focuses on MDRO prevention and containment, particularly in outpatient settings. Prior to working at MDH, Ms. Simpson was fortunate to have had diverse experiences working in the public health field, ranging from bioterrorism to environmental and occupational health. For the past 9 years, Ms. Simpson has been focusing on communicable diseases and infection control practices, leading numerous outbreaks in both traditional and non-traditional healthcare settings.
