Marc-Henri BECADE (TBS 2001) - COVID-19 : Nursing home director shares his perception

Marc-Henri Bécade (TBS 2001) Director of the senior citizens' home, Résidence des Trois-Lacs, in Monclar-de-Quercy (Tarn & Garonne) has shared his son perception on the authorization given by the government to re-open senior citizens' and nursing homes to families in the daily regional newspaper La Dépêche du Midi.

The COVID-19 health crisis has put considerable strain on health professionals and has given rise to new questions concerning the French health system. Regarding nursing homes, there are several questions that Marc-Henri and his team have addressed and to which they have had to find answers, in particular :

• How to tackle such a totally new situation with an invisible enemy ?
• In the absence of effective medication against this pathology, which treatment should be chosen ? 
• How to reconcile residents' treatment and protection of their families ? 

To reply to this last question, the Résidence des Trois-Lacs rapidly found themselves in a dead-lock due to the lack of protective equipment (facemasks, gloves, gowns, hairnets, etc.) both for the personnel of the nursing home and for the families wishing to visit their relatives. 

"Conflicting obligations are a major problem"

The renewed access for families should have been prepared "as a collegiate body, discussed with the teams", Marc-Henri Bécade explained in the regional daily newspaper. "We have established a protocole which takes both safety and caring into account", he added.

"The humain factors remain our priority. Safety cannot be shorthanded either"

Appointments organized prior to visits, visits registered, visitors provided with gloves and facemasks, temperature taken on arrival, meetings held in the open air as much as possible, in areas specifically set aside for visits, disinfection after each visit : such are the measures taken in order to re-open the Résidence des Trois-Lacs.

Nevertheless, for Marc-Henri Bécade it is necessary to re-open the nursing homes even under certain conditions. He considers that "we cannot deprive our residents any longer of their family ties".

At at costs, while re-opening his establishment, he is making sure that human lives are kept safe while respecting the need for an affective life !