Tag Archives for Kathleen Connell

Tackling surge of COVID-19 in Nursing Homes

Published ion RINewToday on December 15, 2020

Over the months, while public health officials watch the uptick in new COVID-19 cases, Congress releases two reports, one taking a snapshot of nursing home performance and resident deaths throughout the first eight months of the pandemic, and the other one sounding the alarm about the impact of COVID-19 on the nation’s nursing homes and warning it is now getting worse.  

About three months ago, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced the release of a 67-page report on care provided in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities throughout the nation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The comprehensive report, titled “COVID-19 and Nursing Homes: What Went Wrong and Next Steps,” reviewed U.S. nursing home performance during the early fall and summer months of the pandemic. According to the report, more than two out of five deaths due to COVID-19 in the United States are linked to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

Stopping the Spread of COVID-19 in Nursing Homes

“Partisan finger pointing, rather than meaningful analysis, cannot serve as a useful guide for policymakers in crafting the necessary bipartisan reforms in response to the unprecedented challenges facing this entire sector and its employees working on the frontlines during this pandemic,” says the Senate Finance committee report, released on Sept. 23. It stressed that suggestions that coronavirus-related deaths in nursing facilities “are attributable solely, or even primarily, to acts or omissions by the current administration falls well short of addressing the multi-faceted problems in this sector.”

The report added, “Such a one-dimensional approach necessarily overlooks several factors that fueled the outbreak of COVID-19 in nursing homes across the United States, and around the world. Minimizing, or devoting scant attention to such factors, makes it enormously difficult for members of Congress to come together in support of long-overdue reforms and bipartisan solutions to the complex problems facing nursing homes today.” 


The report, produced by the majority staff of the Senate Finance Committee, examined what steps might have prevented these fatalities by minimizing the spread of COVID-19 in the facilities and discussed what actions could be taken now to slow the surge of deaths in nursing homes during this and future pandemics.  

While new coronavirus cases have surged to nursing homes throughout the nation and despite federal and state efforts to stall the spreading of the virus, the Senate Finance Committee report noted that facilities have already received significant relief assistance from Congress and the Trump administration totaling approximately $21 billion in addition to technical assistance, guidance and training.

The report’s findings noted that for years preceding the COVID-19 outbreak in March, private nursing homes have had widespread deficiencies in infection control and prevention.  The majority staff also found that state governments and health officials in some of the hard-hit states fell short of their responsibility to ensure quality care, and in multiple states, staffing and supply shortages persisted for years prior to the pandemic. 

Nursing homes around the world have struggled with many of the same issues as the United States during the pandemic, including Europe, the United Kingdom and Canada, noted the report.

State governments in some cases also failed to enforce federal guidelines for these care facilities as required through their participation in Medicare and Medicaid, particularly guidance provided to minimize coronavirus transmission in their facilities, noted the report. In addition, the majority staff found that nursing home staff who work in multiple facilities unknowingly played a key role in spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes. 


Finally, the Senate Finance Committee report also noted that several governors pressured nursing facilities to accept COVID-19 patients when personal protective equipment (PPE) was still in short supply and some did so even after the federal government made temporary hospitals available in their jurisdictions. 
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The Senate Finance Committee report provided, to members of the Senate Finance Committee with detailed background information on the many challenges that nursing homes continue to face during this year’s public health crisis. It provides Congressional lawmakers with specific recommendations, based on best practices that some facilities and public officials adopted during the ongoing pandemic to protect their residents and staff.  It also includes additional suggestions to better protect the nation’s older Americans from elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.

 
Updating the Grim Toll of COVID-19 Deaths in Nursing Homes 

Last week, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Ranking Member of the Special Committee on Aging, and Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, released their report that warned that the already dire situation in nursing homes is worsening.

“It’s with great sadness that we are once again giving a grim update on the toll that COVID-19 is continuing to take on nursing homes. It’s abundantly clear that inaction has contributed to the loss of more than 104,000 mothers, fathers, grandparents, friends and neighbors who lived and worked in nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the country,” said Senators Casey and Wyden, in a statement announcing the report released on Dec. 10. “Experts are predicting that we are heading into the most severe months of the COVID-19 pandemic, marred by climbing caseloads and increasing stress on our Nation’s health care system,” they say, calling on the Senate colleagues to hammer out and pass a comprehensive COVID-19 relief bill. 

According to the eight-page report, entitled, “The Cost of Inaction: 19 Deaths an Hour and Rising,” last month, more than 15 nursing home residents died from COVID-19 per hour, with 19 residents dying each hour during the week of November 22, 2020, the most recent week reported.

The Senate Aging Committee report noted that the number of weekly COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents has increased 133 percent since Labor Day, and 96 percent among nursing home workers during the same period. Workforce shortages have also increased since Labor Day: In November, one in six nursing homes nationwide reported that they do not have a sufficient workforce, says the report.

The Democratic Senators warned that COVID-19 cases will surge in nursing homes if Congress does not come together to hammer out bipartisan legislation to stop the spread of the pandemic.

These new report findings serve as a warning as to what will come if Congress does not come together to alleviate the COVID-19 crisis in nursing homes, says Casey and Wyden. It calls for a national strategy to save lives in nursing homes, including providing facilities with a sufficient supply of PPE, ample access to testing, resources for vaccine distribution, funding for strike teams and adequate workforce supports, and accountability measures to uphold resident rights and permit safe visits with family.

Finally, in the Ocean State…

Just days ago,the latest update of the AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard, released by AARP’s Public Policy Institute, unveiled a new report in a series on improving the care of care provided in the nation’s nursing homes. “Rhode Island’s nursing homes continue to face alarming trends,” says the AARP report.

Using data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services—which is self-reported by nursing homes—the AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio, created the AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard to provide four-week snapshots of the virus’ infiltration into nursing homes and impact on nursing home residents and staff. The dashboard will continue to be updated every four weeks.

In the four weeks analyzed, from October 19 to November 15, AARP’s dashboard reports that Rhode Island nursing homes had a dramatic increase in resident and staff cases, and a higher percentage of facilities reporting they are without a 1-week supply of PPE.

“With coronavirus surging across the country, nursing home residents and staff remain in grave danger as the virus reenters nursing homes and other facilities at an alarming pace,” said AARP State Director Kathleen Connell.  “Facilities continue to have shortages of the staff and PPE needed to keep residents and workers safe and stop the spread. Our state leaders must act now to save lives,” she said.

Connell added, “AARP will continue fighting to protect nursing home residents now and offering solutions to improve our long-term care system for the decades to come.”

For copies of Senate reports go to: https://www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/The%20Cost%20of%20Inaction.%2019%20Deaths%20and%20Hour%20and%20Rising.pdf; 

https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SFCNursingHomesCOVIDMajorityStaffSFCReport23Sep2020FINAL.pdf.

The complete dashboard is available at aarp.org/nursinghomedashboard.

Study: One in Five Americans Are Unpaid Family Caregivers

Published in the Woonsocket Call on May 17, 2020

As the nation sees a growing number of aging baby boomers, workforce shortages in health care and long-term care settings, increased state funding for community-based services, and a growing number of seniors requiring assistance in their daily activities, caregivers are needed more than ever. According to a recently released report from National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) and AARP, an increasing number of unpaid family caregivers are stepping up to the plate to care for their older family members or friends. The caregiver report’s findings indicate that the number of family caregivers in the United States increased by 9.5 million from 2015 (43.5 million) to 2020 (53 million) and now encompasses more than one in five Americans (19 percent).

First conducted in 1997, with follow up surveys in 2004, 2009 and 2015, the Caregiving in the U.S. studies are one of the most comprehensive resources describing the American caregiver. Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 was conducted by Greenwald &a Associates using a nationally representative, probability-based online panel. More than 1,700 caregivers who were age 18 or older participated in the survey in 2019.

Demand for Caregiving Rising as Nation’s Population Gets Older

The 107-page Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 report also reveals that family caregivers are in worse health compared to five years ago. As the demand for caregiving rises with the graying of the nation’s population, the report calls for more be done to support this vital work.

“As we face a global pandemic, we’re relying on friends and family to care for the older adults and people living with disabilities in our lives,” notes C. Grace Whiting, JD, President and CEO of NAC, in a May 14 statement announcing the release of this report. “Caregivers are essential to the nation’s public health, and the magnitude of millions of Americans providing unpaid care means that supporting caregivers can no longer be ignored, she says, noting that report’s findings reveals that growing need.

According to Whiting, family caregivers care for more people than five years ago and they take on more care responsibilities as roughly one in four care for two or more people. “Many individuals are caring for a longer time, with nearly a third (29 percent) of caregivers nationwide reporting they have been caregiving for five years or more—up from 24 percent in the last study,” states Whiting.

Who are today’s caregivers?

This new caregiver study shows that 39 percent are men and 61 percent are women. The average age is 49.4 years. The profile of the family caregiver is also changing, too. While caregiving spans across all generations, Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 found more young people providing care, including 6 percent who are Gen Z and 23 percent who are Millennials. Nearly half (45 percent) are caring for someone with two or more conditions—a significant jump from 37 percent in 2015.

As to ethnicity, the caregiver report notes that six in 10 are non-Hispanic White (61 percent), 17 percent are Hispanic, and 14 percent are African American.

The report’s findings indicate that one in 10 of the caregiver survey respondents are enrolled in college or taking classes (11 percent), 9 percent have served in the military and 8 percent self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender.

Caregivers in Poorer Health, Feeling Financial Strain

Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 also found that caregivers face health challenges of their own with nearly a quarter (23 percent of caregivers find it hard to take care of their own health and 23 percent say caregiving has made their health worse. The report also notes that personal finances are a concern for family caregivers: 28 percent have stopped saving money, 23 percent have taken on more debt and 22 percent have used up personal short-term savings.
Sixty one percent of the caregiver respondents work and have difficulty in coordinating care.

The May 2020 caregiver report states on average, caregivers spend 23.7 hours a week providing care, with one in three (32 percent) providing care for 21 hours or more, and one in five (21 percent) providing care for 41+ hours—the equivalent of a full-time unpaid job.

“The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating the challenges family caregivers were already facing from a personal health, financial and emotional standpoint,” said Susan Reinhard, RN, PhD, Senior Vice President at AARP. “Family caregivers provide vital help and care for their loved ones, yet this survey shows that they keep getting stretched thinner and thinner. We must identify and implement more solutions to support family caregivers—both in the short term as we grapple with coronavirus and in the long term as our population ages and the number of family caregivers declines.”

: “Without greater explicit support for family caregivers in coordination among the public and private sectors and across multiple disciplines overall care responsibilities will likely intensify and place greater pressure on individuals within families, especially as baby boomers move into old age,” warns the report’s authors, calling on Congress and state lawmakers to develop policies that ensure that caregivers do not suffer deteriorating health effects and financial insecurity.

Thoughts from AARP Rhode Island…

“The wealth of information in this report is an essential guide to policymakers,” said AARP Rhode Island State Director Kathleen Connell. “It reveals important trends and underlines future needs. For AARP, it provides information on how, as an organization, we can best serve Rhode Island’s 136,000 family caregivers. The challenges they face vary, making it very important that we can provide focused resources that meet any one caregiver’s needs. The report’s overall takeaway – that the number of caregivers is rising dramatically – is a call for increased awareness and support. This responsibility starts at the very top of federal, state and municipal government and flows all the way down to family members who can better share caregiving responsibilities. Many will be asked to step outside their comfort zone, so we all will have to work together,” adds Connell.

Connell noted that the report points out the shift from traditional residential health care settings to community-based settings. “The research reaches a clear conclusion,” Connell observed. “Families will have to fill new roles, learn new skills and absorb more out of pocket caregiving expenses. This will create additional the stress for many family caregivers. That’s why it is so important that we develop the training, tools and other resources caregivers require.”

A 2019 AARP report, Valuing the Invaluable, calculated that Rhode Island family caregivers provide 114 million unpaid hours of care annually. Based on the average $15.76 per hour wages of paid caregivers, family caregivers represent an economic value of an estimated $1.8 billion.

The 2020 study was funded by AARP, Best Buy Health Inc. d/b/a Great Call, EMD Serono Inc., Home Instead Senior Care®, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The John A. Hartford Foundation, TechWerks, Transamerica Institute, and UnitedHealthcare.

For a copy of Caregiving in the U.S. 2020, go to
https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2020/05/full-report-caregiving-in-the-united-states.doi.10.26419-2Fppi.00103.001.pdf.

Tele-Town Hall Gets the Word Out About COVID-19

Published in Woonsocket Call on May 3, 2020

This week alone, AARP in some 30 states conducted tele-town halls and 123 state calls have taken place since the pandemic surfaced. AARP Rhode Island, representing 132,000 members age 50 and over, was among the very first states to address the pandemic in a tele-town hall over two weeks ago.

At the AARP Tele-Town Hall, held Wednesday, April 22, during the 56-minute live event, state officials came to answer questions about how to cope with the devastating COVID-19 pandemic and how seniors can protect their health and stay safe. AARP Rhode Island’s John Martin, Communication Director, served as host and the panel of experts featured Office of Healthy Aging (OHA) Director Rosamaria Amoros Jones and Rhode Island Department of Health Medical Director Jim McDonald.

“We had 3,050 participants and, at one time, 974 people were on at the same time,” says Martin, who hosted the call. “We took 18 live calls in 55 minutes and, unfortunately had close to 20 people waiting to speak when time expired,” he adds, noting that it was AARP Rhode Island’s largest tele-town hall audience ever.

According to Martin, “Our in-call interactive poll revealed that nearly three quarters of those who cast votes were most interested in local resources and information on how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, About a quarter said they were looking for help caring for family and loved ones, and information on insurance.”

Adds AARP State Director Kathleen Connell, “We were extraordinary pleased with the response to the tele-town hall,” who said she expects more statewide calls. “Just as important, however, is our virtual engagement with members and especially our volunteers. We are getting used to communicating online because that is where all of our ‘personal’ contact will be taking place, at least in the next few months — and that will include video conferencing, which we are testing now. We are impressed at how eager people 50 and older are ready to master the technology and join in.”

State Officials Talk COVID-19

“We are at a point where we are starting to see the benefits of our collective efforts of [maintaining] physical distancing, states OHA Director Jones. It is flattening the curb where the peak number of people requiring care at a time is reduced and the health care system is not overwhelmed, she says.

“It is really important for us that social or physical distancing as we also refer to it does not equal social isolation,” says Jones, noting that innovative approaches can keep people engaged with each other during this time of physical distancing.

Jones also gave a plug for Project Hello (http://oha.ri.gov/get-involved/volunteering/), a program that matches older adults with someone in the community for regular chats and for mutual support. “We’re in it for the long haul and it is going to take all of us working together neighbors helping neighbors,” she says.

“Effective quarantine and isolation efforts are critical today,” says Jones. “Our focus is on making it as easy and as comfortable as possible right now to stay home as we ready ourselves for the new normal that is on the other side of the pandemic,” she adds.

Jones called for those in quarantine and self-isolation reach out to Shopping Angels (www.facebook.com/shoppingangelsinc/) for assistance in personal shopping.

One caller expressed strong concern about Governor Gina Raimondo’s comment that people over age 60, at greater risk of severe COVID-19 illness, would be required to stay home for a longer period of time before being allowed to return to work or participate in community activities. “There have been no definitive decisions to implement restrictions at this time,” said Jones trying to reassure the caller.

Although there are programs and services detailed on the internet that can assist older Rhode Islanders to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, one caller asked how these could be accessed without a laptop, computer or smart phone. Jones noted that The Point (http://oha.ri.gov/get-help/), operated by United Way Rhode Island and linked through 211 or by dialing (401) 462-4444, could provide information, referrals to needed programs and services.

How would people age 60 and over be protected against age discrimination when the governor is stating that it might take a longer time for these individuals to return to work? asked a caller. “It’s something we are thinking a lot about and a lot more [will] come as we talk about what the new normal is going to look like as we come through the peak of the pandemic, says Jones, stressing that age discrimination would not be tolerated.

Jones called for listeners to visit NextDoor.com, a website that promotes volunteer opportunities (including the delivery of groceries for seniors and those in quarantine), to see how they could help those impacted by COVID-19. For those seeking information about housing, Jones recommended a site, RI Havens, that provides a listing of hotels with affordable room rates for front line workers and for those persons stranded because of the virus and might need a safe place to stay. Details about food delivery options and food assistance programs can be found at the site, RI Delivers, that connects those in quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19 with opportunities to have food delivered by local and big-box grocery stores.

One caller asked Dr. James McDonald, Medical Director at RI Department of Health (DOH), about how a person could improve their immunity to assist them to successfully combat COVID-19. “You can’t always control the virus but you can control yourself,” says McDonald, stressing the importance of eating a healthy diet, regularly exercising and losing weight are actions to take to improving your health.

Making COVID-19 Transparent in Rhode Island’s Nursing Homes

During the Tele-Town Hall, McDonald was asked a question, “Why can’t the Health Department provide a list of long-term care and assisted living facilities that will show the number of patients/residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 and the number of facilities.” Twenty-four hours later this list appeared on the DOH Coronavirus Data Hub. (https://ri-department-of-health-covid-19-data-rihealth.hub.arcgis.com/).

McDonald noted that this particular virus has been so effective in causing the pandemic because it takes so long for a person to show symptoms and that other people who have it sometimes spread the virus before they even have symptoms and they don’t even know they should isolate because they don’t feel ill. It becomes important for a person to wear a mask when going outside to stop the spread of the virus, he says.

MacDonald says that it is highly unlikely to catch COVID-19 by touching grocery bags placed on your porch or through picking up a letter or package. He suggests constantly using hand sanitizer and washing your hands before and after picking up items touched by others.

AARP has created a special web page, http://www.aarp.org/RICOVID for coronavirus information and resources,” says AARP Rhode Island’s Martin added. “There you will find information about our ‘Community Connections’ program, aimed at combating isolation and loneliness, and a direct link to http://www.aarp.org/coronovirus, where all of AARP’s resources can be found.