How To Prepare for In Person Visits During COVID-19

It is difficult to give solid, unchangeable advice during a pandemic as the situation is ever-evolving. The risk of COVID-19 to Albertans varies according to where you may live or how you plan your routines.

At Qi Creative, we offer both in person and telepractice visits, with specific measures to monitor health and safety of our clients, team members, and communities.

Are you in a similar position with us or a different service provider? This blog post intends to explore and give you a bit of advice about how to prepare beforehand.

How to Prepare your Child or Teen for a Home Visit

As children and teens may still be experience anxiety around the Coronavirus, helping them to prepare for a in person (home) visit with a therapist may reduce stress. As autistic kids fall into the ‘most vulnerable category’ due to communication challenges (verbal or nonverbal), some may still be maintaining their quarantine routine, and a person, new or long-time-no-see, entering the home may be disruptive for them.

Most therapists will be wearing some form of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including masks, eye coverings, gloves, and possibly disposable gowns, so here are a few tips to prepare your child or teen in advance:

Social Stories

As always, depending on the age and needs of your child, social stories can be a great way for them to make sense of new situations. Below are a few examples of free social stories explaining PPE, handwashing, social distancing, and coughing and sneezing:

Speak to Your Therapist Beforehand

Your therapist will be calling you before the visit to carry out a Point-of-care risk Assessment (PRCA). This is an assessment of the infectious risk to you, your child, or teen, and to themselves.

It may be a good idea for your child and teen to speak to the therapist on the phone or online, and to answer any questions that you or they may have. Your therapist can also explain to your child what they will be doing in the session and how this may differ from previous pre-COVID visits.

If your child or teen has an issue around masks and gowns, the therapist could wear the PPE that they will be wearing on the home visit to familiarize them with how they will look.

Involve Your Child or Teen with the Preparations

As there will be several extra measures needed to prepare for an in person visit, involving your child or teen may prove helpful.

Encourage them to help clean hard surfaces, door handles, and any equipment that may be used in the session (there will be more on this.)

If it will be necessary for your child to wear a mask, then have them practice wearing one for short periods beforehand and gradually build up the time.

Explain, that where possible outside sessions (weather permitting) will be safer and have your child help set up an outside area for their visit.

Encourage your child to wash their hands frequently, especially just before the visit. Ensure your child is aware to cough or sneeze into a tissue or their elbow, if possible. Explain the rules of social distancing and practice applying them before the home visit.

How Parents and Carers should Prepare for an In Person Visit

It is essential to inform your therapist immediately if any of the following situations apply to you:

Your child or teen, yourself or any family member has symptoms of COVID-19
You, your child or teen, or a family member has been diagnosed with COVID-19
You suspect that you, your child, family member, or friend has had direct contact with another person who has symptoms of COVID-19 or has a definite diagnosis.
You have been told by a public health authority that you have been exposed to the coronavirus (eg. Phone call, phone app, email)
You have recently returned from travel outside of Canada. If you have traveled out of province within Canada, then discuss the implications with your therapist before arranging an in-person visit.

Clean your Frequently Touched Surfaces

Although you do not have to go end-to-end with the cleaning, basic requirements include wiping down all hard surfaces with an approved disinfectant in the areas of your house where your therapist may need to visit or use. These include:

Tables and chairs - inside and outside
Handrails
Electronic equipment such as laptops and phones
Light switches
Doorknobs and handles
Taps
Bathroom facilities especially the toilet and sink including the taps
Cabinet handles
Countertops

Ensure that yourself, child or teen, and family members thoroughly wash their hands immediately before and after the scheduled visit and any time necessary during the visit such as after a toilet break.

Provide an approved hand-sanitizer for use in-between times by all.

Ensure there is a lined garbage can by the front door of your home, for disposal of the mask, apron/gown, and gloves of the therapist.

Final Words

Whilst some of you may be happy to resume physically distanced in person visits, some may prefer, for the time being, to continue with online sessions, and that is fine too—we perfectly encourage you to do so if they are effective for your family.

Although there appears to be a lot of information in this post, in practice, these are small measures that won’t take up too much time to ensure the safety of all of us in our reemergence from staying safe at home.

At Qi Creative, we look forward to working with clients again in person and will do our best to help with adjustments to the ‘new normal’.

If you have any questions, or concerns regarding in person visits, please do not hesitate to contact us (info@qicreative.com).

In the meantime, stay safe, stay positive, and keep up the good work!