The project is supported by grant funding from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, administered by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response (OEPR).
The home and community-based services sector is on the front lines when infectious disease threats emerge. The overall project is focused on providing access to the training, planning resources, and protective equipment that support a coordinated response to managing infectious diseases in home care settings.
Five Part Webinar Series
The webinar series is designed to provide baseline knowledge of emerging infectious disease, novel and high-risk infections in the home care setting. Building on this knowledge, the webinars address planning, protocols, and best practices in prevention and control of these and other high risk and prevalent infections in the home and community-based services population.
Five one-hour webinars cover identification, prevention, agency integration, patient and family engagement, and interagency coordination and planning.
Webinar 1 - Emerging Infectious Disease, Novel & High-Risk Infection in the Home & Community Based Services Population - An Overview
This is the first of five webinars that will address emerging infectious disease or novel influenza outbreak planning for a home care audience. The focus for this initial webinar is on the identification of these diseases, such as H5N1 and respiratory tract pathogens (Influenza, COVID, RSV) and their associated etiology, background and key facts, prevalence, and implications for the home and community-based services population.
Presenter: Teresa Lubowski, Pharm. D., B.S., CPHQ, Director, Medication Safety, IPRO Date: February 27, 2026
Webinar 2 - Emerging Infectious Diseases, Novel & High-Risk Infections in the Home & Community Based Services Population - Home Care Agency Planning
The second webinar in the series is focused on the integration of planning into the home care agency’s overall scope, plans and protocols for infection prevention and control for these and other high risk and prevalent infections in the home and community based services population.
Presenter: Melanie Ronda, MSN, RN, LTC-CIP, CPHQ, Senior Director of Healthcare Quality Improvement and Infection Preventionist at IPRO Date: March 20, 2026
Webinar 3 - Emerging Infectious Diseases, Novel & High-Risk Infections in the Home & Community Based Services Population – Best Practices/Interventions in Prevention and Control
The third webinar in the series is focused on best practice (interventions) in prevention and control that address emerging infectious diseases or novel influenza outbreaks and high-risk infection presented in Webinar 1 and 2
Presenter: Melanie Ronda, MSN, RN, LTC-CIP, CPHQ, Senior Director of Healthcare Quality Improvement and Infection Preventionist at IPRO Date: April 20, 2026
Webinar 4 - Emerging Infectious Diseases, Novel & High-Risk Infections in the Home & Community Based Services Population – Engaging Patient/Family in Prevention and control
The fourth webinar in the series is focused on patient, family, caregiver, and/or household member engagement in prevention and control of infectious disease and outbreaks.
Presenter: Melanie Ronda, MSN, RN, LTC-CIP, CPHQ, Senior Director of Healthcare Quality Improvement and Infection Preventionist at IPRO Date: May 29, 2026
Webinar 5 - Emerging Infectious Diseases, Novel & High-Risk Infections in the Home & Community Based Services Population – Interagency communication, collaboration and coordination
The final webinar in the series is focused on Communication, Collaboration & Cross-Agency Coordination and explores best practices for HCBS agency coordination during emerging infectious disease outbreaks.
Presenters: Melanie Ronda, MSN, RN, LTC-CIP, CPHQ, Senior Director of Healthcare Quality Improvement and Infection Preventionist at IPRO and Sara Butterfield, RN, BSN, CPHQ, CCM, Assistant Vice President of Health Care Quality Improvement for IPRO and the Health System Lead and Engagement Lead for the Northeast Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) QIN-QIO (Region 1)
Clinical and Paraprofessional Training
Clinical (in-person) training session:
HCA E&R conducted two in-person clinical education programs focused on the early identification, control, and management of emerging infectious diseases, novel influenza, and other high-risk infections in the home and community-based services (HCBS) population.
The trainings offered a deep dive into strategies for prevention and mitigation of novel/high-risk infections especially prevalent and virulent in the (HCBS) population. The in-person trainings offered a complement to our five part webinar series introducing and broadly addressing these areas.
The trainings took place at the Conference Center in Manhattan and comprised a full morning and afternoon session.
Participants were educated in:
Nursing bag protocol
Hand hygiene (especially critical in infectious disease prevention/ mitigation)
Related high-risk/high morbidity infections in HCBS, including UTIs, aspiration pneumonia, pressure injuries, cellulitis, and prevention and intervention for progression to sepsis
Clinical assessment and interventions to support management and care coordination
Clinical tools and resources for staff, patient, and caregiver education.
Virtual training designed for home care paraprofessional staff:
A special virtual training for paraprofessionals was offered June 16, 2026. The training, “Special Virtual HHA/PCA In-service Training in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Novel Influenza & Infections in the HCBS Population” attracted more than 90 participants and is available to view online at no-cost.
HCANYS and IPRO conducted this 90-minute free virtual training for home health aides and personal care aides on the infections that affect their patients, the dangerous complications that can arise, and the precautions to be taken to protect both the caregiver and patients. This 90-minute program provides the knowledge and skills to help protect both the HHA/PCA and their patients from infectious diseases. Participants will learn how to recognize warning signs, apply infection control precautions in the home, and respond when a patient's condition changes. Case scenarios and Q&A are built into the session.
This training is designed to correspond to the New York State Department of Health's regulatory criteria, which counts toward HHA/PCA annual in-service requirement in infection control.
