MDH Publishes Updated Activities and Dining Guidance for Assisted Living Settings

Posted on March 31, 2021 by Kari Everson

Yesterday, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) published updated guidance which allows for more flexibility for dining and guidance in assisted living settings.

Activities and meals are a significant factor in combating social isolation and bringing a sense of normalcy and stability to our resident’s lives.

As vaccines and other infection prevention and control practices continue to change the landscape of our congregate care settings relating to COVID-19, many organizations asked for changes to the activities and dining guidance particularly for fully vaccinated residents. Because of that need and LeadingAge Minnesota’s continued advocacy efforts, MDH released updated guidance for activities and dining in assisted living settings. In the guidance document, MDH includes registered housing with services settings with an arranged home care provider as assisted living.

There are two important definitions: fully vaccinated and household. Fully vaccinated means a person for which two weeks has passed since the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine or two weeks has passed after receiving a single-dose vaccine. The Department also determined that for assisted living settings a household is one apartment. It is necessary to continue following core infection prevention and control interventions to prevent the spread and transmission of COVID-19 in our assisted living settings including screening, hand hygiene, well-fitting masks, social distancing, educating visitors, cleaning and disinfecting of high-touch surfaces and use of PPE. 

There is current evidence that vaccines offer protection against COVID-19 and the Department has used this data to inform guidance for residents during resident-initiated and assisted living organized activities and dining. Significant changes to the guidance include:

• Residents who are fully vaccinated can now sit closer than 6 feet apart during activities organized by the facility and while eating in the organization’s dining room. Residents must continue to wear masks when they are closer than six feet except when they are eating.
• Residents who are fully vaccinated can gather for activities they arrange with unvaccinated individuals from one other unit or household as long as all infection prevention and control practices are followed.

This new guidance will bring much needed flexibility to our dining and activity programs and will provide an increased quality experience for our residents during their social time together. For questions, please contact Kari Everson.