December 20, 2022

In this Issue:

1. New Podcast Episodes: Visiting Nursing Homes During the Holidays and What Residents and Families Need to Know About COVID-19 Boosters
   
2. Free COVID-19 Tests Available
   
3. KFF Issue Brief Provides Overview of State Actions to Address Nursing Home Staffing During COVID-19
4. New Report from LTCCC Examines Effectiveness of National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care
   

New Podcast Episodes: Visiting Nursing Homes During the Holidays and What Residents and Families Need to Know About COVID-19 Boosters

Two new episodes of the Pursing Quality Long-Term Care podcast are now available:

Visiting Nursing Homes This Holiday Season
As the result of changing CMS and CDC nursing home guidance since the start of the pandemic, residents and families have had a great deal of uncertainty during the holidays surrounding visitation and the requirements for residents who leave their facilities. Jerry Rothkoff of Rothkoff Law Group joins us to talk about the state of visitation now, almost three years into the pandemic, and how to spend time safely together this holiday season.

What Nursing Home Residents and Their Families Need to Know about COVID-19 Vaccinations and Boosters
COVID-19 cases and deaths are rising across the country, while at the same time seasonal influenza and RSV cases are also causing hospital beds to be full. In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Celine Gounder, Senior Fellow and Editor-at-Large for Public Health at the Kaiser Family Foundation and Kaiser Health News, discusses the importance of nursing home residents and staff being up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. Dr. Gounder addresses questions about the efficacy of boosters and also how frequently nursing home residents and staff should be receiving them.

Listen to the episodes on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Facebook, or our website.

Free COVID-19 Tests Available

The White House has announced a new limited round of free at-home COVID-19 tests for the winter. Households can now order either standard at-home tests or tests that are more accessible for people who are blind or have low vision. Shipping is free.

Order tests

KFF Issue Brief Provides Overview of State Actions to Address Nursing Home Staffing During COVID-19

Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) has published an issue brief entitled, "State Actions to Address Nursing Home Staffing During COVID-19." This issue brief summarizes federal and state standards related to nursing home staffing prior to COVID-19 and builds on existing information by identifying changes to state minimum staffing requirements adopted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.  It also examines state legislative and regulatory actions since the onset of the pandemic that directly affect worker wages and training requirements.

Key findings include:

• At least five states (AR, CT, MA, NY, RI) adopted permanent increases to nursing home minimum staffing requirements after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, while at least one state (GA) adopted a permanent decrease.
• At least four states (CO, IL, MA, NC) adopted laws or regulations that require increases to nursing home staff wages since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• At least 3 states (KY, MO, WI) adopted permanent changes to staff training requirements post-COVID to expand the pool of staff available to work in nursing homes.

Read the full brief.

New Report from LTCCC Examines Effectiveness of National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care

Long Term Care Community Coalition (LTCCC) has released a new report entitled, "A Decade of Drugging."  In 2012, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care to reduce the use of dangerous antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes. LTCCC's report examines how dementia care has – and hasn’t – changed since the launch of the Partnership and demonstrates how the campaign has fallen short of its goals to curb antipsychotic drug use.

Read the report.