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Make sure that families get the information they need about their loved ones including knowing their rights when residents are transferred or discharged because of COVID-19. Many Americans think about retirement as the last big plan they’ll ever have to make, but they’ll need to plan to protect themselves against the risk of making poor decisions later in life. In “Make a Plan While You Can,” AARP Bulletin’s personal finance expert offers advice from making decisions on independent or assisted living to designating power of attorney on major medical decisions in case you can’t make them yourself. Men represent 2 out of 5 of the more than 40 million unpaid family caregivers in the U.S., but the role of male caregivers remains hidden. In honor of National Family Caregivers Month, AARP Bulletinreveals why these 16 million men are the best-kept secret of caregivers in America, and why they are breaking stereotypes of the typical caregiver. Also, in this month’s issue, from putting soap in a nylon stocking for a non-slippery soap to using glow tape for safe walks in the house at night, AARP Bulletin offers six clever and low-cost ways caregivers can make everyday tasks easier.
Residents must be able to exercise their rights to visitation, and facilities should be held accountable for ensuring such visits occur. It’s time we require that our nursing home residents are provided with safe environments and high-quality care. The Virginia General Assembly must take action and pass legislation to establish minimum staffing standards to ensure facilities are held accountable for providing that care. For the four-week measures, nursing homes were included only if the facility reported to CDC for all four weeks (nationally, 93% of facilities for the most recent four-week period, for states ranging from 60% to 99%). If a nursing facility reported but had missing data for a specific measure, that facility is excluded from the calculation of that measure for the dashboard. Many states have required self-reporting by nursing homes and/or other long-term care facilities, but the requirements vary widely.
AARP Texas Urges Legislators to Focus on Nursing Home Safety
At the national level, the CMS data source gives a significant undercount of the number of cases and deaths before June 2020, compared to other sources that were reporting in real-time. Nancy LeaMond is the chief advocacy and engagement officer for AARP, widely seen as one of the most powerful advocacy organizations. Leading its government affairs and legislative campaigns, she has the responsibility of driving the organization’s social mission on behalf of Americans 50-plus and their families.
There is variation in vaccination rates among regions and facilities within each state, not just between states. AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that empowers people to choose how they live as they age. “These findings coincide with a disturbing trend of CMS actions to undermine federal oversight and enforcement of nursing home quality standards,” the letter, from Joyce A. Rogers, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs, states. Prohibits visitation until county positivity rates fall to 10% or under , there has been no new onset of COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days in the facility, and the facility is not currently conducting outbreak testing.
Seniors Deserve Better: Ensure Quality Care in Nursing Homes
Make sure confirmed COVID-19 cases, deaths, and demographic data are available for residents, families – and the public – daily. Here in Texas, resident deaths were down from a rate of .45 per 100 residents in the four-week period ending February 20, to .09 per 100 residents in the four-week period ending March 20. Since June 2020, the CMS data are much more reliable and at the national level track well against data reported by the states . Aggregate counts of deaths and cases may be an undercount if there are facilities that are not reporting. Percentages or rates might be slightly biased if the average of non-reporting facilities differs significantly from the average of reporting facilities. Yet federal policymakers were slow to respond to this crisis, and no state has done a good enough job to stem the loss of life.
At the high end, 95% of residents in South Dakota are fully vaccinated, and 70% are up to date. The rate of resident cases in the week ending December 4 is the highest since early February, during last winter’s Omicron surge. Most facilities now meet criteria for in person visitation because there are no outbreaks.
Health & Wellness
At the time of that announcement, CMS said it would emphasize education, rather than impose such penalties.
Our leaders must act immediately to stem the loss of life due to coronavirus and improve conditions in America’s long-term care facilities. AARP will continue to shine a light on what’s happening in nursing homes so that families have the information they need to make decisions, and nursing homes and lawmakers can be held accountable. California is the leading the way in staff vaccinations, with nearly half (49%) of staff up to date on vaccinations, and two in five (39%) of facilities achieving 75% of staff up to date. While the majority of facilities in every state have at least 75% of staff vaccinated , only 1 out of every 12 facilities has reached that threshold for the percentage of staff up to date on vaccinations as of mid-November.
Ensure quality care for residents through adequate staffing, oversight, and access to in-person formal advocates, called long-term care Ombudsmen. Please act now to protect our most vulnerable - include language in the state budget to ensure adequate staffing at nursing homes. Ensuring families and friends can visit their loved ones in nursing homes has been a top priority for AARP, and AARP is advocating for visitation for all to resume as soon as possible, which means that it must be safe. Visitation is key to combatting social isolation which has proven negative impacts on people's health. With new COVID-19 cases in North Carolina long-term care facilities declining rapidly over the past several weeks, facilities that meet criteria have been given the green light to resume indoor visitation while continuing to follow infection prevention recommendations. Data points that go back prior to the first reporting date, including the “since January 2020” counts of resident cases and deaths in the state fact sheets, may significantly undercount the total number of cases and deaths.
Arizona’s rates are the lowest across the board, with only 74% of residents vaccinated, 58% boosted, and 26% up to date. As of mid-November, 87% of nursing home residents were fully vaccinated and 75% had gotten at least one booster shot; however, only 45% were up to date on vaccinations with the bivalent booster. The rates of resident deaths and resident cases during the 4 weeks ending November 20 are up moderately compared to the previous 4 weeks, while staff cases are up slightly. More recently however, in the weeks ending November 27 and December 4, resident and staff cases are surging rapidly. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. AARP said any weakening of the federal regulations would lead to situations that would have a negative effect on safety for nursing home residents.
In May 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services required nursing homes to self-report COVID-19 cases and deaths on at least a weekly basis; these data are reported directly from nursing homes to the federal government and are consistent across all states. As a result, there is a significant undercounting of cases and deaths before June 2020 in this data source. Ensure adequate staffing and funding levels to meet the needs of long-term care residents and appropriately recruit, train, retain, and compensate care workers.
The CDC publishes a Nursing Home COVID-19 Data Dashboard and Nursing Home Vaccination Data Dashboard that are updated weekly and include several key data points at the state and national level. The rate of resident cases is up 63% and the rate of staff cases is up 70% in the week ending December 4, compared to the last week of the dashboard. AARP sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services asking officials to strengthen enforcement of quality standards to protect the 1.3 million Americans living in nursing homes.
AARP also works for individuals in the marketplace by sparking new solutions and allowing carefully chosen, high-quality products and services to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the world’s largest circulation publications, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. Now offers information about vaccination and booster rates within individual nursing homes and how they compare to state and national averages. About one thousand nursing home residents died nationwide of COVID-19 during the Dashboard’s most recent reporting period, with more than 25,000 new resident and staff cases reported nationwide as well.
So that they can follow up and the Department can continue to work on measures that will enable safe visitation. And vaccinations through the federal long-term care partnership for COVID-19 vaccinations will continue this month. Beginning in June 2020, the data reported by CMS and by individual states appear to be roughly comparable, though exact comparisons are difficult because of the inconsistency in state reporting. Only 5 states and the District of Columbia have even one third of staff up to date on vaccinations and more than one in ten facilities with 75% of staff up to date.
Ensure access to in-person visitation following federal and state guidelines for safety and require continued access to virtual visitation for all residents. Prioritize regular and ongoing testing and adequate personal protective equipment for residents and staff—as well as inspectors and any visitors. Require daily reporting of facilities with confirmed cases to help manage the public health response and keep families up-to-date. RALEIGH -- The NC Department of Health and Human Services announced some good news for people who have been waiting patiently, as well as painfully, to visit their loved ones in long-term care facilities. Hold long-term care facilities accountable when they fail to provide adequate care to residents. Improve transparency focused on daily, public reporting of cases and deaths in facilities; communication with families about discharges and transfers; and accountability for state and federal funding that goes to facilities.
