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COVID-19: Advocacy, 4/14 · The SHEA Podcast

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Rapid Response Podcast brought to you by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, or SHA, promoting the prevention of healthcare associated infections and antibiotic resistance and seeking to advance the field of healthcare epidemiology and antibiotic stewardship.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: I am Christy Weinshell, Executive Director of SHA, and I will serve as your moderator today.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Discussion on the podcast does not reflect Shay's perspective, but facilitates communication of multiple perspectives and experiences as we go through this challenging time together.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Shay is excited to launch the eighth episode of this podcast, COVID-19 updates, What We Know Now.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Today's episode will focus on Shay's advocacy around the coronavirus pandemic.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Our speaker today is Lynn Bishon, Director of Policy and Practice at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for joining us today, Lynn.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: We'll now move into today's discussion.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Before we start questions, would you mind sharing Shay's policy platform?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Right, so we have a formal platform that is posted on our website, but probably the easiest way to break it down is our policy involves legislative policy, regulatory policy, and standards that are either developed by regulatory agencies or other accreditating agencies and then used by surveyors or inspectors or accrediting bodies to evaluate quality.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we are engaged in all those respects.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: We review anything new and emerging, and we also take whatever is developed by our public policy and government affairs committee and other interested parties to basically take a position on any one issue.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: We also are very engaged with other stakeholder organizations and we use all of those tools to position Shay in part of the larger dialogue on healthcare quality.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: What has changed about the policy platform since the emergence of COVID-19?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, as I'm sure everyone can imagine, the impact of the pandemic has dramatically changed our direction, our priorities.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And while we are continuing to monitor all of our primary issues, we are now laser focused on advocacy for COVID-19, in particular for all of our members who are on the front lines, who are not just treating patients, but doing everything that they can to protect the workforce from being exposed to COVID-19 while they're treating patients, seeing patients, patients who don't have COVID-19.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And we are also gathering information from our members in the field and sharing their feedback, their observations, their concerns, challenges with federal officials.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: So every day is sort of a new thing.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're watching the news very carefully and we are engaging wherever we so it is a lot of information sharing, a lot of monitoring, and as new and emerging policies begin to come forward that are specific to COVID-19, we're trying to stay on top of that as much as possible.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think the biggest challenge has been so far?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: So by far, based on the feedback that we're receiving from members, and it is clearly the most challenging time of their careers, are the shortages.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And in particular, the PPE shortages are making the response very, very difficult.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: So Shay has been laser focused on getting feedback from members.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: We're encouraging members to continue to share with us their challenges, whether it is specific to their hospital or information that is being shared among colleagues.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And in addition to just managing the shortages, it's trying to understand who within the federal government is responsible for assisting with the shortages.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of different entities, a lot of different individuals, task forces, groups, there's coalition groups, a lot of interest, difficult for us to identify who within the administration is the point of contact, how best to share our information and our feedback with federal officials.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: We know that there are a lot of federal officials who hear us, they're obviously well aware of the PPE shortages, but unclear on how to influence the process for dealing with the PPE issues.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: How is Shay addressing these challenges on behalf of the membership?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a multi-layer response because the issue, the challenge is so hard.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: There is really no one way to get at it.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so the first prong, if you will, is obviously engaging our members, getting information, feeding information, that exchange of information is what's most critical.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's what keeps us at the staff level informed, and that information is then conveyed to federal officials.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: We also convey that same information with other stakeholder organizations, so other professional societies, healthcare coalitions.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Recently, we've been more engaged with healthcare supply chain distributor folks, which is not something that we're accustomed to doing.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's a different mix of interested parties.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so we continue to share information with them as well.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then since the pandemic really ramped up, there are probably anywhere between two and three calls, whether they're webinars or teleconferences or Zoom calls with government officials or stakeholder organizations that host these platforms and where government officials are invited, speakers or panelists.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so we are in at least at a minimum of once a week, we are engaging directly with federal officials, sharing our concerns, asking questions, requesting feedback.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of it has been guidance, the information that we give them, they then take clarify guidance, update it, publish it, may come in the form of memos, it may be as informal as feedback that then we share with either individual members or a group of members.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: So there's obviously that stakeholder engagement.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then beyond all the communication and information sharing, there's the advocacy.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Shay historically has not been engaged in direct lobbying.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I it was infrequent that I would actually travel to Capitol Hill and go to congressional offices mostly because I'm a one-person staff.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And to be effective in that kind of methodology, you have to have multiple folks who are doing that.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we have over the last several years created a grassroots network, and that is, of course, made up of Shay members, and we bring all of those folks together, create the messaging, and ask our members to go out and share Shay's message on behalf of the society.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that is what we've been doing for this as well.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that is a campaign that is still in the earlier stages, but is nonetheless growing and also a very important component of our advocacy.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: So those are probably the three main components.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: What would you like SHA members to know about our COVID-19 advocacy work?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: So as I mentioned earlier, we're on the phone, it seems all day, every day, communicating with interested parties, stakeholders, government officials on not just the PPE shortages, obviously, but the guidance that is used to prevent transmission of infection in hospitals.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: It is the ventilator shortages that some healthcare systems are either experiencing or anticipate experiencing.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's a many layers thing, but most importantly, their feedback is extremely critical.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Keeping us informed in real time, we offer a number of tools for them to do that.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, they can contact anyone on staff through the contact information that is on our website, but we also send out at least once a week, sometimes twice weekly, an update on what we know and understand to be the situation with COVID-19.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Not just new and emerging guidance, but updated guidance, news, journal articles, anything that we think can keep members informed.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we are hopeful that they're reading that to the extent practical and reacting to that and sharing their feedback, helping us to understand what the situation is on the ground.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond that, there is our advocacy campaign.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And thankfully, we have technology on board that allows people to engage in advocacy in a way that's easy and quick.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can do it from your mobile phone, you can do it from your laptops.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: We send out alerts, but also we have an action center on our website, and folks are free to go there on their own.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say over the next couple of weeks, folks should check back often as we update those alerts, as we add new calls to action to follow through, send messages to your state and federal representatives, and anybody can customize the message that we've inserted in there.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: We draft language as guidance and to give folks a place to start, but we really strongly encourage people to take the time to customize it in a way that reflects their real situation in their facilities and send those messages to their federal officials.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: The more often we're able to do that, the more often legislators are able to hear from their constituents, the better that they understand the challenges that are happening on the ground.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not just about the touch points, but so many other societies, fields, professionals, everybody's impacted by this.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it is important that our members forward on sort of a more unique message.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we are infection preventionists, we are researchers, we are unique in this space in preventing the transmission of infectious diseases, and we can't allow other entities to fill the space and send messages or create messages on behalf of our field.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: So it is important for as many members to participate as possible to ensure that our unique message is delivered to the Hill.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: How do you mobilize members to take action?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: So our grassroots platform allows us to engage members in a couple of different ways.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: First, those members who are already opted in to our platform, that is to say, in a previous call to action or initiative, they signed up to receive alerts and updates.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Once they're opted into our platform, they can receive an alert from me, either a text message or from email from Shay to the network asking them to participate in the next initiative.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: The second is because of the scope and breadth of this particular issue, we have been sending messaging.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Most of our messages from Shay have been going to all members, and we haven't been parsing those messages out to specific audiences.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we also send emails, broadcast emails to the full SHA membership, alerting them to a call to action.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: So that is another way for folks to engage.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then we do have an action center on our website.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: So folks who are on our website can navigate to the policy tab, and then you'll you'll see three major sections.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the action center is the place where we house calls to action, and that just simply means that we have a message that we're asking members to deliver.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: We want you to follow through and deliver that message.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: For the short term, we have been asking members to send emails, but our platform also has the capability to connect you to congressional offices via phone call.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: And also we can create tweets for you so you can tweet at your congressional delegation or also post on their Facebook page.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So really it's convenient, and there are a lot of different ways to get our members in touch with their elected officials.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so we ask folks to check back frequently to look for calls to action.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: The other is, and I think this is incredibly important for COVID-19, anyone can opt into Shay's grassroots platform.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't have to be a member of Shay.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And anyone who has an interest in our issues, so for example, the PPE shortage is something that is persistent and is of concern pretty much to anyone in the healthcare field.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: We strongly encourage you, as Shay members, to share the links and the alerts with your colleagues.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, I think we had somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 advocates in our platform.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: And in the last two weeks, we've already doubled.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think we're close to, if not at a thousand, advocates in our platform.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: So clearly there's a lot of interest, a lot of energy around our initiatives, and we encourage everyone to share those links and encourage colleagues to get involved.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Lynn.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: That was a lot of great information.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: If you could summarize, what do you think the key takeaways are for our members from this discussion?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I think what is most important for SHA members to understand is advocacy for COVID-19 is top of mind.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: It is the one thing that we are focused on.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Again, we haven't set aside our other priorities, but it is something that we work all day, every day, and it's not just me, it's a whole house effort among all Shay staff with support from our leaders.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Feedback is key.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Keep the updates and messaging back to Shea staff coming.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: We read every single message and we consider every single one.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: No two messages are alike, so it is important.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you have questions that are directed to federal officials, please send those.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: We'll do our best to figure out who to send those questions along to and how to get the answers.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: But as I mentioned earlier, sometimes that can be a challenge in and of itself.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: And you are your own best advocate.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: It is important to the extent practical.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: We know everyone is not only busy but exhausted.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: It is a challenging time professionally.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: But if you have maybe five minutes or 10 minutes for a very specific message, we encourage everyone to get involved with advocating on behalf of the field and sending messages to their congressional delegation.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much, Lynn, for sharing your perspectives and experiences.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: And a sincere thank you from Shay to all healthcare personnel for all that you are doing to respond to COVID-19.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: This podcast can be accessed on Shay's online education center, Learning CE, under the Rapid Response Program.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: You will also find additional resources such as the recorded webinars, Healthcare Facility Outbreak Preparedness, and the SHAY COVID-19 town halls.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Additional resources available on Learning CE pertinent to this pandemic include the SHA CDC Outbreak Response Training Program, or ORTP, and the Prevention Course in HAI Knowledge and Control or Prevention Check.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: This concludes this episode of the Rapid Response Podcast.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for tuning in.