Category Archives for Health & Wellness

HHS Climate and Health Outlook tackles climate-related hazards

Published in RINews Today on July 25, 2022

Over two and a half months ago, the Biden administration launched a new initiative, called the Climate and Health Outlook, to serve as a resource to help people, health professionals, and communities protect individual and community health impacted by climate events.

On May 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE) launched the first installment of its new public information series called the Climate Health Outlook – https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/climate-health-outlook-may-2022.pdf (Outlook). HHS’s new Outlook series connects weather forecasts to health resources to create actionable data they say will saves lives and reduces illness and health risks associated with climate-related hazards like extreme heat, wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, and vector-borne diseases that impact human health.

According to HHS, this inaugural edition of the Outlook will take on extreme heat, which has been a key target of the Biden administration’s efforts to build resilience to the impacts of climate change. As part of this and future editions, the Outlook series will add a health lens to seasonal weather and climate outlooks from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to inform health professionals and the public about weather- and climate-related health risks months in advance and provide resources to prepare.

“We’ve seen what exposure to extreme heat can do,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement announcing the new federal initiative. “It can lead to illness and death and makes it much harder to do a day’s work outdoors. Many people in the United States have jobs that require them to work outside to feed their families regardless of the weather. Our new Climate and Health Outlook protects people and their health by giving advance notice to the communities that will be most impacted in the coming months.” she said.

“Our communities across the country will soon be facing heatwaves that will be an additional strain on our health systems,” adds  Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine. “This information will save lives when used by public health officials, employers with outdoor workers, and schools and local health departments and the individuals they serve. Having information in advance can reduce illness and deaths from extreme heat exposure,” she says.

The Outlook illustrates where the greatest health risks from heat will be in the United States during the early 2022 heat season, presenting estimates of which U.S. counties are expected to experience extremely hot days and identifies the vulnerable populations in those counties that could be impacted by heat exposure. It also provides a set of actionable resources from HHS that are targeted to the public, specific populations, health care professionals, and public health officials to reduce health risks from heat.

HHS says that the Outlook will be updated and improved regularly as future data and feedback are collected. Future editions will address other climate-related threats to the health of people living in the United States, with a focus on those most vulnerable. For a copy of  HHS’s Office of Climate Change and Health Equity’s May issue of Climate and Health Outlook: Extreme Heat, go  to https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/climate-health-outlook-may-2022.pdf.

On a Personal Note… Surviving the Dog Days of Summer

Just days ago, Rhode Island officials announced its first heat wave  It took 3 days of 90 degrees or above to make this call. 

Despite the fact that 618 people throughout the nation killed by extreme heat annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), says heat-related deaths and illnesses are preventable.  

The following tips provided by CDC’s website provide sound tips for helping us stay safe when the temperatures soar.

During an ongoing heat wave, seniors, infants and young children, and people with mental illness, those overweight, and chronic diseases (including heart disease) are at the highest risk of heat-induced illness that can cause a person to become confused or lose consciousness. Seek medical attention immediately for anyone showing signs of heat stroke. Heat stroke can be life-threatening.

With temperatures rising, wear appropriate clothing that is lightweight, light-colored and loose fitting. 

During extreme heat and humidity, stay in your air-conditioned house or air-conditioned room, if you have that option. Electric fans may provide temporary comfort, but when the outside temperature soars into the high 90s, they won’t prevent heat-related illnesses. Try taking a cool shower or bath. 

Keep in mind: Use your stove and oven less during the heatwave to reduce the inside temperature. Try traveling to an air-conditioned place like a shopping mall, movie theatre, or even go to your local library or cooling shelter? Each city and town, or one nearby, should have cooling centers open. In Providence pools and splash pads have extended hours. For a listing of cooling shelters by city and town, go to https://riema.ri.gov/planning-mitigation/resources-businesses/cooling-centers  (If you need additional assistance call 2-1-1). Even being in a cool space for just a few hours can help your body stay cooler when you have to go back outside.

During a heatwave, go to your local gym to exercise so you can limit your outdoor activities. If you go outside, do this in the morning or evening hours when it’s cool. Start your working or exercise slowly and slowly pick up the pace. If the heat makes your heart pound and you gasp for breath, stop all activity. Go immediately to a shady area especially if you become lightheaded, confused, weak or faint, to cool off, this will allow your body to recover from the heat. Drink water.

Sunburn can affect your body’s ability to cool down and can make you dehydrated. So, when going outside, wear a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and put on sunscreen of SPF 15 (“broad spectrum” or “UVA/UVB protection”) or higher 30 minutes before going outside.  Continue to reapply it according to the package directions. 

Hot heavy meals can heat up your body. When going outside drink plenty of fluids, regardless of how active you are.  Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink. Most important, if your doctor limits the amount you drink or has you on water pills, ask how much you should drink while the weather is hot.

Also, stay away from very sugary or alcoholic drinks because they cause you to lose more body fluid. You might consider avoiding cold drinks, because they can cause stomach cramps. Room temperature water is better now.

Finally, heavy sweating removes salt and minerals from your body, and they need to be replaced.  A sports drink can replace the salt and minerals you lose when sweating. If you are on a low-salt diet, have diabetes, high blood pressure, or other chronic conditions, always talk with your doctor before drinking a sports beverage or taking salt tablets. 

Do not leave children or your pets in cars that can quickly heat up to dangerously high temperatures even with a window cracked open. You put them at risk of getting heat stroke or dying. If you leave your pets outside, leave them plenty of water and in a shaded area. Watch metal pieces in your car, like seatbelts, which can heat up to unbelievably high – and even burning to the skin – temperatures.

During a heat wave, always visit or get in touch with older adults (family or friends) at risk at least twice a day and closely watch them for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Infants and young children, of course, need much more frequent watching.

For CDC’s website page on “Extreme Heat” go to https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/.

For warning signs and symptoms of heat-related illness and what to do, go  to https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/warning.html.

Advertisement

One Year Later – Two Surveys Examine Impact of COVID-19

Published in RINewsToday on May24, 2021

Over the year the raging pandemic has impacted on the physical and mental health of Americans. With daily COVID case counts now the lowest since last year and hospitals seeing less coronavirus hospitalizations, most states, including Rhode Island, are now opening up.

According to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) latest Stress in AmericaTM poll (findings released on March 11, 2021), the nation’s health crisis is far from over. Just one year after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, many adults report increased negative behaviors, such as undesired changes to their weight and increased drinking, that may be related to their inability to cope with prolonged stress.

APA’s survey of U.S. adults, conducted in late February 2021 by The Harris Poll, shows that a majority of adults (61 percent) experienced undesired weight changes—weight gain or loss—since the pandemic started, with 42 percent reporting they gained more weight than they intended. Of these individuals, they gained an average of 29 pounds (the median amount gained was 15 pounds) and 10 percent stated they gained more than 50 pounds, noted the poll’s findings.

Gaining Weight Bad for Your Health

Weight changes come with significant health risks, including higher vulnerability to serious illness from COVID-19.  According to the National Institute of Health, people who gain more than 11 pounds are at higher risk of developing Type II diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease, and people who gain more than 24 pounds are at higher risk of developing ischemic stroke. 

For the 18 percent of Americans who said they lost more weight than they wanted to, the average amount of weight lost was 26 pounds (median amount lost was 12 pounds). Adult respondents also reported unwanted changes in sleep patterns and increased alcohol consumption. Two in 3 (67 percent) said they have been sleeping more or less than desired since the pandemic started. Nearly 1 in 4 adults (or 23 percent) reported drinking more alcohol to cope with their stress.

“We’ve been concerned throughout this pandemic about the level of prolonged stress, exacerbated by the grief, trauma and isolation that Americans are experiencing. This survey reveals a secondary crisis that is likely to have persistent, serious mental and physical health consequences for years to come,” said Arthur C. Evans Jr, PhD, APA’s chief executive officer, in a March 21st statement announcing the results of the study’s findings. 

Evans calls on health and policy leaders to come together quickly to provide additional behavioral health supports as part of any national recovery plan.

The researchers found that the pandemic took a particularly heavy toll on parents of children under 18-years old. While slightly more than 3 in 10 adults (31 percent) reported their mental health has worsened compared with before the pandemic, nearly half of mothers who still have children home for remote learning (47 percent) say that their mental health has worsened; 30 percent of the fathers who still have children home said the same. 

APA’s study also found that parents were more likely than those without children to have received treatment from a mental health professional (32 percent vs. 12 percent) and to have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder since the coronavirus pandemic began (24 percent vs. 9 percent). More than half of fathers (55 percent) reported gaining weight, and nearly half (48 percent) said they are drinking more alcohol to cope with stress.

As to essential workers, (either persons working in health care or law enforcement), the majority said that they relied on a lot of unhealthy habits to get through the year-long pandemic. Nearly 3 in 10 (29 percent said their mental health has worsened, while 3 in 4 (75 percent) said they could have used more emotional support than they received since the pandemic began. Essential workers were more than twice as likely as adults who were not essential workers to have received treatment from a mental health professional (34 percent vs. 12 percent) and to have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder since the coronavirus pandemic started (25 percent vs. 9 percent).

Furthermore, people of color noted that unintended physical changes occurred during the pandemic. Hispanic adults were most likely to report undesired changes to sleep (78 percent Hispanic vs. 76 percent Black, 63 percent white and 61 percent Asian), physical activity levels (87 percent Hispanic vs. 84 percent Black, 81 percent Asian and 79 percent white) and weight (71 percent Hispanic vs. 64 percent Black, 58 percent white and 54 percent Asian) since the beginning of the pandemic.

Black Americans were most likely to report feelings of concern about the future, say the researchers, noting that more than half said they do not feel comfortable going back to living life like they used to before the pandemic (54 percent Black vs. 48 percent Hispanic, 45 percent Asian and 44 percent white).  They also feel uneasy about adjusting to in-person interaction once the pandemic ends (57 percent Black vs. 51 percent Asian, 50 percent Hispanic and 47 percent white).

“It’s clear that the pandemic is continuing to have a disproportionate effect on certain groups,” said APA President Jennifer Kelly, PhD. “We must do more to support communities of color, essential workers and parents as they continue to cope with the demands of the pandemic and start to show the physical consequences of prolonged stress,” says Kelly.

COVID-19’s Impact on Seniors

A newly released AARP study, released on May 10, 2021, has found that more than a year into the coronavirus pandemic, most adults age 50 and older say that it has had a negative impact on their mental health. Researchers found that seven in 10 older adults reported an increase in sadness or depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and nearly 8 in 10 said they had increased concern about the future, worry or anxiety. Half of adults 50 and older reported feelings of anxiety in the last two weeks, and 56% noted difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep, say the study’s findings.

“If you are feeling stressed and anxious after the last year, you are far from alone!” said Alison Bryant, Senior Vice President of Research at AARP in a statement announcing the survey results. “As our survey highlights, most older adults’ mental health and wellbeing was affected by the pandemic—and some of the ways we coped might not have been great for our health, either. With many communities returning to normal, we hope older adults will consider taking steps to reclaim their health this spring and summer,” she said.

Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic

According to the AARP study findings, seniors are responding to the increased stress in a variety of ways. About one in four of the respondents reported they are eating comfort foods or “unhealthy foods” like chips and candy more often than before the pandemic. And 27 percent of people 50 and over have increased the time they spend praying or meditating. One in 10 survey respondents reported seeking mental health care in the last year, a third of whom did so specifically because of the pandemic. Overall, 15 percent of older adults said that experiencing the pandemic made them more likely to seek help from a mental health provider if they had concerns.

AARP’s survey also highlighted how the pandemic increased loneliness and isolation among those age 50 and over.  Among older adults, 58 percent reported feeling increased loneliness, and 62 percent were less likely to socialize with friends and family compared to before the pandemic.

AARP Rhode Island Shows RI Facilities Remain Hotbed for COVID-19

Published in RINewsToday on February 14, 2021

As the Rhode Island Health Department (RIDOH) announces that cases of COVID-19 are declining and is loosening up restrictions on the reopening of bars and our social gatherings, AARP Rhode Island warns that the state’s nursing homes remain a hotbed for COVID-19 infections, and the “death rate remains disturbing.”  Rhode Island’s largest aging advocacy group calls on the General Assembly to take action this session to enact legislation to protect facility staff and residents. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 162,000 residents and staff in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have died nationwide, and nearly 1.3 million people are known to have been infected with coronavirus in these facilities. Rhode Island has recorded 1,430 deaths in skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other eldercare facilities.
On Feb. 11, AARP Rhode Island released its Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard, the data revealing that the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in these facilities still continues despite incremental improvements in all four dashboard categories.

The dashboard analyzes federally reported data in four-week periods going back to June 1, 2020. Using this data, the AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio, created the dashboard to provide snapshots of the virus’ infiltration into nursing homes and impact on nursing home residents and staff, with the goal of identifying specific areas of concern at the national and state levels in a timely manner.

Taking a Snapshot 

According to the data (Dec. 21 to Jan. 17) from AARP Rhode Island’s latest Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard, the rate of new coronavirus cases per 100 residents declined from 15.7 to 10.6 among residents and from 12.5 to 10.6 among staff. While cases are lower than in the previous time period, resident cases remain the second highest in New England in AARP’s dashboard analysis, with nearly four times the cases in Rhode Island nursing homes reported in October and November.

Meanwhile, the latest dashboard data indicated that resident death rates dropped from 2.60 to 1.82 for every 100 people living in a nursing home and that nursing home staff cases dropped from 12.5 per 100 workers to 10.6.The dashboard also reveals that PPE shortages dropped sharply. Shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) have declined from 20.3 percent of nursing homes without a one-week supply to 4.3 percent — the lowest number since the first dashboard report in June, 2020. Staff shortages were relatively steady, dropping from 41.9 percent of facilities reporting shortages to 40 percent.

AARP Rhode Island calls on Governor Gina Raimondo and Lt. Governor Dan McKee to protect nursing home residents and staff from COVID-19. “We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the first known coronavirus cases in nursing homes, yet they remain appallingly high, said AARP Rhode Island State Director Kathleen Connell in a statement announcing the release of the latest dash data said, “The devastation this pandemic has brought to nursing home residents and their families has exposed fundamental reforms that must be made in nursing homes and to the long-term care system. We cannot lower our guard, she says.

AARP Rhode Island’s COVID-19 Legislative Agenda

The Rhode Island nursing home industry has struggled with quality care and infection control for years. Connell called for Rhode Island lawmakers to act immediately, focusing this year on: 

1.   Enacting or making permanent the components of AARP’s five-point plan:·         

— Prioritizing regular and ongoing testing and adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for residents and staff—as well as for inspectors and any visitors.·  

—  Improving 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.·         

— Ensuring access to in-person visitation following federal and state guidelines for safety, and require continued access to virtual visitation for all residents.·        

—  Ensuring quality care for residents through adequate staffing, oversight, and access to in-person formal advocates, called long-term care Ombudsmen.

2.      Reject immunity and hold long-term care facilities accountable when they fail to provide adequate care to residents.

3.      Establishing minimum nursing staffing standards.

4.      Ensuring that increases in facility’s reimbursement rates are spent on staff pay and to improve protections for residents.

5.      Ensuring progress is made so that in-person visitation can safely occur and facilitating virtual visitation.

“Additionally, our leaders must reject policies that take away the rights of residents to hold nursing homes accountable when they fail to provide adequate care, Connell added. “Now is not the time to let nursing homes off the hook for abuse, neglect, and even death.”  AARP Rhode Island wrote a letter to Gov. Raimondo, urging her to withdraw her nursing home immunity Executive Order.  At press time, there has been no reply.

As the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic approaches, RIDOH notes that 64 percent of all deaths have women and men in Rhode Island’s nursing homes and assisted living facilities. In the past 13 days, 116 new cases in these facilities have been diagnosed – with 41 new deaths. At weekly updates from Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, it used to be that the death statistics were broken down by age, noting how many were lost “in their 60s, in their 70s”, etc. but notably this no longer is reason for pause and expression on condolence.

Unless Rhode Island lawmakers act quickly, older Rhode Islanders in these facilities will continue to be at a very high-risk of catching COVID-19 and the fatality death rate will remain disproportionately high for seniors. As residents receive their vaccine shots, first and second, we in turn hope that the refusal rate of staff to the vaccination is going down.

It’s time to act. 

The full Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard is available at  www.aarp.org/nursinghomedashboard.  

For more information on how COVID is impacting nursing homes and AARP’s advocacy on this issue, visit www.aarp.org/nursinghomes.