Anyone who has worked as a group home support staff has probably worked in a home that has had a smell that has been a challenge to locate or a challenge to get rid of.
The first step to having a clean smelling group home is to keep a clean group home. There will be times when cleaning can get away from group home support staff. Some of the causes include:
- Group home support staff unavailable for shift
- Residents with intense behaviors that need staff attention to manage
- Understaffed due to budgeting
- Group home support staff not fulfilling duties
- Residents with severe disabilities who need constant staff monitoring
- Residents are ill or injured and need additional care
- Spill or incontinence goes unnoticed by staff
When a group home smells there are three steps to eliminating the odor:
- Locate the odor
- Categorize the odor
- Clean and deodorize the area
Simply deodorizing or covering a smell with air freshener is never enough.
Locate the odor in the group home by smelling where the odor is most intense. If the exact place cannot be identified it may be because the area wasn’t cleaned properly and the odor spread and attached itself to other areas.
Categorize the odor found in the group home to help in choosing the best cleaning method and solutions. Possible categories include:
- Urine
- Feces
- Body odor
- Stinky feet or shoes
- Rotting food
- Drinks
Clean and deodorize the source of the odor and the surounding area. Once cleaned thoroughly, use a deodorizer.
When weather permits, open windows and doors to air out a group home. When opening doors and windows group home support staff should make sure a safety risk or AWOL opportunity doesn’t occur.
Once an area is cleaned, check it the next day to see if the odor has returned. Re-clean area if needed. Sometimes with intense or long neglected odors, the source may need to be discarded.
Write a comment