Influenza outbreak management tabletop exercise for congregate living settings

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Healthcare Preparedness

Background:

• Congregate living settings (CLS) are high-risk environments for communicable disease outbreaks.
• Effective preparedness is crucial to mitigate the impact of infectious disease threats in CLS.
• Past outbreaks, including COVID-19, highlighted the need for enhanced infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies in these settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a tabletop exercise in improving influenza outbreak preparedness in CLS.
• To evaluate changes in self-reported knowledge and readiness among CLS staff following the exercise.
• To explore the broader potential of such exercises in building IPC capacity within the CLS sector.

Main Methods:

• A tabletop exercise simulating an influenza outbreak was conducted.
• The exercise involved a large group of participants from various congregate living settings.
• Self-reported knowledge and readiness assessments were administered before and after the exercise.

Main Results:

• Participants reported significant improvements in their knowledge of influenza outbreak response protocols.
• Readiness scores for managing communicable disease threats increased post-exercise.
• The exercise successfully engaged a diverse range of CLS, indicating broad applicability.

Conclusions:

• Tabletop exercises are a valuable tool for enhancing influenza preparedness in CLS.
• This proactive strategy can bolster infection prevention and control capacity, extending beyond specific pathogens like COVID-19.
• Investing in preparedness exercises can strengthen the resilience of CLS against future public health emergencies.