AARP concerned for working caregivers. Advice from Dr. Michael Fine

Published in RINewsToday on August 9, 2021

After the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic initially shuttered the nation’s businesses over a year ago and with Delta variant cases now surging among the 50 percent of the population not fully vaccinated, AARP releases a 17-page report exploring the concerns of working caregivers about returning to pre-pandemic business routines. 

AARP’s national survey, examining caregiver concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, was conducted by phone and online panel on July 1-7, 2021, and included 800 U.S. residents 18 years or older who are currently providing unpaid care to an adult relative or friend and employed either full-time or part-time (but not self-employed).

Six in ten caregivers responding to the survey were paid hourly, while nearly four in ten are salaried workers. Almost seven in ten say that their job is “essential.” 

The researchers found that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted how working caregivers balanced their work and caregiving roles. Four in five caregivers expressed feeling stressed by juggling these dual responsibilities. More than three in five of the respondents say that they were spending more time caring for their loved one(s). When asked about the next 12 months, two-thirds of all working caregivers expect some, or a great deal of, difficulty balancing both job and caregiving roles. 

According to the AARP study, “Working Caregivers’ and Desires in a Post-Pandemic Workplace,” about half of working family caregivers were offered new benefits during the pandemic, including flexible hours (65%), paid leave (34%) and mental health or self-care resources (37%). About half of those surveyed were able to telework due to COVID 19; by early July, 22% were still working from home full time and 30% were working from home at least part-time. For those who could work from home, nearly nine in 10 said it helped them balance work and care responsibilities – and 75% are worried about how they will manage when their pre-pandemic schedules resume.

“Employers would be wise to consider how benefits like paid leave and flexible hours can help the one in six workers who are also caring for a loved one,” said Alison Bryant, Senior Vice President, AARP Research in an Aug. 4 statement released announcing the release of the report. “Living through the pandemic was challenging for working family caregivers – while some were helped by new workplace benefits and flexibility, the vast majority are worried about how to balance both roles going forward. Our research opens a window into how the pandemic changed the workplace and what working caregivers are concerned about in the coming year,” says Bryant.

As offices and other in-person workplaces begin to slowly re-open, many caregivers expressed concerns that they would bring the virus home to infect loved ones (63%) or contract COVID at work (53%). About three in five are worried about leaving the person they care for alone while they go to work. Among those who were able to work at home during the pandemic, almost nine in ten would like the option to continue doing so at least some of the time. And more than four in ten caregivers said they would consider looking for a new job if the benefits they were offered during the pandemic were rolled back.

AARP offers a range of free tools and resources to help employers retain working caregivers, including tip sheets, tool kits and online training for managers. The resources are available at www.aarp.org/employercaregivin

Dr. Michael Fine: The pandemic of the unvaccinated

Don’t let your guard down, even if you’re vaccinated, warns Dr. Michael Fine, the former Rhode Island Director of the Department of Health. As the COVID-19 Delta variant cases spike across the nation, “it’s the pandemic of the unvaccinated,” he says. “Now 97% of the hospitalized are unvaccinated. As community transmission rises, it is more likely that vaccinated people will get infected and spread the virus,” he says.

Dr. Fine further responded to requests about how we should approach this latest wave of COVID in Rhode Island:

“For most vaccinated people, Covid-19 will be a mild disease,” says Fine.  For those with chronic disease like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, COPD and cancer, one study from Israel suggests that the risk of hospitalization and death is equal to the unvaccinated,” he says.  

“As community transition rises, I’m expecting some hospitalizations and death in vaccinated people with chronic disease. That group would do well to self-isolate — to stay home and let others shop for them, until community transmission falls to less than 35/100,000/week. We are now a place with high transmission, about 140/100,000/week,” states Fine.

Fine urges businesses to require all employees working together to be vaccinated, wear masks and get weekly Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests for the COVID-19 virus.

Teleconferencing technology should replace onsite or outside meetings, he says.  

Working caregivers can be protected from bringing COVID-19 home by being vaccinated and should get two PCR tests a week, and limit contact with other people by avoiding shopping at stores or going to restaurants.

Your eyes, ears, and teeth are connected to your body – Medicare/Medicaid at 56

Published in RINewsToday on August 2, 2021

Over 56 years ago, Congress became actively involved in the health insurance business with President Lyndon Johnson signing the Social Security Amendments establishing Medicare and Medicaid. The bipartisan legislation creating a national health insurance program. It was introduced in March 1965, and was passed by large majorities of Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate chambers. 

At the signing ceremony that took place at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri on July 30, 1965, Johnson handed the first Medicare cards, numbers one and two, to 81-year-old former President Harry S. Truman and his wife, Bess. Johnson proclaimed the former president to be “the real Daddy of Medicare.” Truman, the 33rd President, was considered to be the first president to vigorously call for national health insurance who ultimately saw his proposals stall on Capitol Hill, as the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and conservatives tagged it “socialized medicine.” 

Celebrating Medicare and Medicaid 

On July 30th of this year, top federal officials, Congressional Democrats, and aging advocates celebrated the 56th Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid.

“For decades, Medicare and Medicaid have been a lifeline and a steady foundation for our seniors, children, women, families, people with disabilities, and at every stage in life,” says HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, noting that about 140 million Americans have health insurance coverage through either Medicare (63 million) or Medicaid (74 million). An additional 4 million adults could benefit if the remaining 12 states expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act.

“For 56 years, Medicare and Medicaid have made health coverage a reality for individuals and families when they have needed it,” adds Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, of the Centers for Medicare Services (CMS). “When President Lyndon Johnson called on Congress to spare the nation’s seniors of ‘the darkness of sickness without hope,’ nearly half of seniors were uninsured, most hospitals around the country were segregated, and health coverage was out of reach for many,” she noted. 

“Medicare and Medicaid were critical steps forward in the fight for civil rights that brought the peace of mind that health coverage provides to many, made health care access more equitable by requiring the integration of hospitals, and improved health outcomes across the country,” says LaSure.

With the health needs of those CMS programs recipients always evolving, LaSure calls for the expansion and strengthening of Medicare and Medicaid so they remain quality and reliable health programs. “Ensuring these programs also work to advance health equity nationwide is also a top priority for CMS. Access to health coverage is a right and no one should be left out, left behind or left on the sidelines,” she says.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also took time from her schedule to celebrate President Johnson’s landmark law creating Medicare and Medicaid. “Fifty-six years ago, our nation made a bedrock promise to our seniors and working families: that they deserve the dignity and security of quality, affordable health care. Today Medicare and Medicaid stand as pillars of health and justice, ensuring that millions of Americans receive the care they need, regardless of age or financial means,” says Pelosi.

“As we celebrate this anniversary, Democrats reaffirm this longstanding and unyielding belief: health care is a right, not a privilege. That is why we remain committed to defending Medicare and Medicaid against Republicans’ constant, callous attacks, as well as advancing legislation to bring down sky-high prescription drug prices, improve Medicare’s benefits for seniors and build on the success of the Affordable Care Act to lower health care costs for American’s families,” Pelosi adds.

As the nation celebrates Medicare and Medicaid’s 56th Anniversary, Max Richtman, president and CEO, of the Washington, DC-based National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, watches Congress’s continued debates about expanding Medicare benefits. “If you need to see a dentist, if you can’t see properly, if you can’t hear alarms, it’s not a luxury; it’s essential for the safety and health of older people,” he says.

Social Security Works Goes to Washington

On July 30, Social Security Works came to Capitol Hill to celebrate Medicare’s 56th anniversary by delivering more than 125,000 petitions to lawmakers urging them to lower the popular program’s eligibility age from age 65 to 60, allow Medicare to renegotiate lower prescription drug prices for everyone and to upgrade coverage to include vision, hearing and dental services.

“The 56th anniversary is as good as any other occasion to expand Medicare to cover more people, to do work that has not been done for generations,” says Dr.  Sanjeev Sriram, an adviser to the advocacy group Social Security Works, during the Capitol Hill rally. The Maryland primary care provider called these changes long overdue. 

“Now, as a doctor I can tell you: Your eyes, your ears, and your teeth are connected to your body,” said, Sriram during Friday’s rally on Capitol Hill to explain the importance Medicare covering vision, dental and hearing benefits. “I did not have to go to medical school to tell y’all this, but apparently I do have to tell Congress this.”

“We put Democrats in power to make changes, not excuses. It’s time to expand Medicare,” Sriram told senior advocates holding signs with the message, “Medicare for All” and “Medicare Expansion Now.”

Although Senate Democratic leadership agreed to expand Medicare in a recently $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, the measure does not lower the program’s eligibility from age 65 to age 60, says Sriram, noting that lowering the Medicare’s age requirement gives more than 23 million people health care coverage.

While critics say that the nation can’t afford to add vision, dental, hearing and vision benefits, a recently released poll says the Americans support this expansion of benefits. In June 2021, survey findings released by Data for Progress and Social Security Works proves just how popular these proposals are. A survey of 1,175 likely voters shows a full 83% of voters support expanding Medicare to cover hearing, vision and dental care, including 86% of those over the age of 45. That popularity even crosses party lines: 89% of Democrats, 82 of Independents, and 76% of Republicans are in favor.

Congress now has an opportunity to listen to constituents. And many think it’s time to expand Medicare’s benefits and lower the program’s eligibility age, for the benefit of America’s seniors.

We can prevent “suicide by bridge”

Published in RINewsToday on July 26, 2021

As the General Assembly goes into recess until the fall, Rep. Joseph J. Solomon Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick) sees H-5053, to require safety barriers or netting on the three bridges that connect Aquidneck and Conanicut Islands to the mainland of Rhode Island, as in hiatus. The bill in House Corporations never came out of committee but that isn’t stopping the House sponsor from working to see the legislative intent fulfilled. 

According to Solomon, the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority currently has a number of suicide prevention measures in place, including a smart surveillance system allowing authorities to act quickly, but virtually no way to physically deter a determined jumper. The Rhode Island Samaritans also has signs posted at the bridge entrances with information to access RI’s 911 system for emergencies or The Samaritans one to one hotline, where individuals can speak to someone. 

But determined people do jump, Solomon notes, explaining the need for passage of H-5053.

“Too many people have committed suicide on those bridges in the last decade,” said Representative Solomon in a statement released when the bill was introduced last January. “Due to technological advances, there are various types of barriers and netting available to increase safety without hindering access for routine inspection and maintenance of the bridges,” he said.

“It’s not only a serious problem, but an alarmingly frequent one,” said Solomon explaining why he introduced his bill. “Last year alone, the Portsmouth Police responded to the Mount Hope Bridge 36 times. And the cost of suicide goes far beyond the individual. It affects friends, families, first responders and health care professionals. Those who survive the fall all say the same thing: they feel instant regret the moment their feet leave the railing.”

Sen. Louis P. DiPalma’s (D-Dist. 12, Middletown, Newport, Tiverton, Little Compton), companion measure, S-117 met the same fate by not being voted out of the Senate Housing and Municipal Government Committee.  

If the General Assembly had passed these bills during this legislative session, Rhode Island would have taken a leadership position and joined other states such as New York, California and Florida and countries around the world that have moved to put physical safety barriers on the bridges to deter suicides. 

  • Barrier under construction in Florida
  • No barriers in Rhode Island

Raising the Visibility of the Need for Physical Barriers

Melissa Cotta of Tiverton and Bryan Ganley of Bristol founded Bridging the Gap for Safety and Healing. Their Facebook page says its mission is to “raise suicide awareness & prevention, increase cycling & pedestrian safety on our bridges & offer support to all the survivors of those lost including families and loved ones, witnesses, first responders and our entire community. Our top goals include preventing bridge suicides by advocating for restricting easy access to means of suicide in general & installation of bridge safety barriers.”

According to Cotta, who witnessed a suicide from the Mount Hope Bridge, and Ganley, a 40-year Samaritan volunteer and survivor of suicide by loved ones and friends, last year COVID-19 derailed the passage of legislation introduced by Solomon and DiPalma to bring suicide prevention barriers to Rhode Island’s bridges. This year, with legislation reintroduced, they turned to social media and Facebook to urge Rhode Islanders to call for lawmakers to install physical barriers on the state’s unprotected bridges.

“The time is now! Take the means for suicide away!” – they say. We don’t want to lose any more people to these bridges,” referring to suicides on the Jamestown-Verrazzano, Claiborne Pell, Mt. Hope and Sakonnet River Bridges.

Army Corp of Engineers say barriers work on Cape Cod’s Bridges

According to a 1983 memorandum “Information Awards” for the “Installation of Suicide Deterrent Fencing” on the Bourne & Sagamore Highway Bridges at the Cape Cod Canal barriers were installed at the request of The Samaritans of Cape Cod, led by Monica Dickens, great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens and a driving force in the creation of The Samaritans in Boston, on Cape Cod and in Rhode Island.

According to additional information provided by the Army Corp of Engineers, managers of the Cape Cod Canal and the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges “during a 28-year period after the fencing was installed, between 1984 and 2012, a total of 7 persons committed suicide from the bridges. A far lower rate of incidence than what was recorded for the years before the fencing was installed as part of the major rehabilitation project started in 1979.”

From 2013-April 2021, the Army Corps is aware of “two attempts that were prevented thanks to the quick actions of state and local law enforcement officers. The presence of fencing may not only deter attempts from occurring, but it can also delay an attempt long enough to give law enforcement a chance to successfully respond to an incident when one does occur. “(Note: This is not conclusive information as reports may have gone to state or local police.)

“In RI, from 2009-2018, we know of at least 33 deaths from our bridges and from November 2020 to July 2, 2021, we are aware of at least 8 persons lost from the bridges,” say Cotta and Ganley.  

“Many suicides can’t be predicted or prevented, but suicides from bridges is something we can prevent with the installation of Suicide Prevention Barriers on our state’s three major bridges,” noted Ganley in written testimony to support H 5053. 

Ganley added: “As a Hotline/Listening volunteer, we are trained to first remove the means of suicide.  A bridge with 135’ drop and only a 3’ rail, is like handing a suicidal person a loaded gun.  These bridges are all loaded guns.  We need to take away the gun.”

The Final Push…

With the Rhode Island General Assembly in recess, just days ago ABC 6 reported that Solomon and DiPalma are still seeking ways to fund the installation of barriers on Rhode Island bridges to prevent suicide.  Solomon tells ABC6 in a statement: 

“Although the General Assembly is currently in recess, we are still working behind the scenes with the RI Bridge and Turnpike Authority and the RI Department of Transportation on moving things forward. With one-time federal funding becoming available in the federal infrastructure bill, it is our hope that some of the funding can be allocated to both the design and implementation of suicide prevention barriers or netting. 

Although we are moving in the right direction this is not a time to become complacent. Melissa Cotta and Bryan Ganley have done an outstanding job working on this from day one. They are continuing to raise awareness on this issue and show that it is a priority in Rhode Island. Rhode Island would not be the first state to implement these barriers. Those states that do have barriers show how effective they are. I will continue to push for this legislation with the intent of getting it passed when we reconvene this fall.”

Sign the Petition…

“The petition for safety/suicide prevention barriers is intended to increase awareness of this issue and show residents of Rhode Island, as well as the surrounding areas that use our bridges all the time are in support of these barriers,” says Cotta.

The public’s call for installing safety/suicide prevent barriers has gained a powerful advocate.  House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-District 23, Warwick), states “I admire Representative Solomon’s passion and commitment to this issue. We will continue to work with him.”

At press time, 2,630 have signed Cotta and Ganley’s petition to add barriers to Rhode Island’s unprotected bridges.  They hope to add thousands more to send a message to the Congressional Delegation, the Governor and the General Assembly to act to add physical barriers to Mount Hope, Pell, Jamestown and Sakonnet Bridges. To view and sign this petition, go to tinyurl.com/ribridgingthegap

Suicide emergency? Call 911. Need to Talk? Call The Samaritans of Rhode Island at 401.272.4044 or 1.800.365.4044. Learn more at http://www.samaritansri.org