“Key Questions About the Impact of Coronavirus on Long-Term Care Facilities Over Time,” by Priya Chidambaram, Kaiser Family Foundation Quote: “Long-term care (LTC) facilities have experienced a disproportionate share of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recently available data show long-term care facilities making up 8% of all coronavirus cases, but more than 40% of all COVID-19 deaths. This analysis evaluates trends of long-term care cases and deaths between April and August 2020 to evaluate where and when the pandemic has hit long-term care facilities the hardest, how the share of cases and deaths attributed to long-term care facilities has changed
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“COVID-19 shifts mindset of family caregivers about senior living decisions,” by Kimberly Bonvissuto, McKnight’s Senior Living Quote: “Research from Toledo, OH-based Transcend Strategy Group reveals family caregivers’ opinions about how to best care for older adults changed due to COVID-19, with facility-based care suffering a blow in consumer confidence. The research assessed the effects of the global pandemic on the impressions of a variety of care settings from 1,000 family healthcare decision makers across the country, 23% of whom indicated they have a loved one who resides in an assisted living community. Among family caregivers surveyed, 65% said COVID-19 has completely changed
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“State Actions to Sustain Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports During COVID-19,” by MaryBeth Musumeci, Rachel Dolan, and Madeline Guth, Kaiser Family Foundation Quote: “States have taken a number of Medicaid policy actions to address the impact of COVID-19 on seniors and people with disabilities, many of whom rely on long-term services and supports (LTSS) to meet daily needs and are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes if infected with coronavirus. Medicaid is the primary source of coverage for LTSS, financing over half of these services in 2018. Collectively these actions could expand access to coverage (by enhancing financial and functional eligibility criteria and
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“Two or more long-term health conditions linked to positive COVID-19 tests,” by Alicia Lasek, McKnight’s LTC News Quote: “Multimorbidity and polypharmacy puts individuals at a higher risk of testing positive for COVID-19, a new study has found. Non-white ethnicity was also linked to testing positive. … Overall, people with multimorbidity who had the highest risk were those from socioeconomically deprived areas, of non-white ethnicity, considered severely obese, and who had reduced renal function, reported study lead Barbara Nicholl, Ph.D., from the University of Glasgow.”     LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): It is
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“A Novel Way to Combat Covid-19 in Nursing Homes: Strike Teams,” by Hannah Critchfield, New York Times Quote: “Covid strike teams apply an emergency response model traditionally used in natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires to combating outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Composed of about eight to 10 members from local emergency management departments, health departments, nonprofit organizations, private businesses — and at times, the National Guard — the teams are designed to bring more resources and personnel to a disaster scene. … Covid-19 outbreaks spread like wildfires in long-term care facilities, which house medically vulnerable residents and staff in
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