October 20, 2020

In this Issue:

1. State COVID-19 Nursing Home Policies - Now Including Updates to Visitation Policies
   
2. Share Your Experience as Visits Resume in Long-Term Care Facilities
   
3. Materials Available from Webinar with Dr. Susan Wehry on Strengthening Families as They Reunite
   
4. National Academies Announces Appointments to the Committee on the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes
   
5. Updated NCEA Brief on the Mistreatment of LGBT Elders
6. Postcards Designed by Residents of Long-Term Care
   

State COVID-19 Nursing Home Policies - Now Including Updates to Visitation Policies
Consumer Voice has updated the tool on our website that tracks each state’s policies and practices regarding the COVID-19 crisis in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.  The interactive map allows users to select a state and learn detailed information on that state’s policies regarding reopening and visitation policies; the public release of COVID-19 cases and deaths in long-term care facilities; and whether the state has taken action to grant civil and/or criminal immunity to long-term care facilities for substandard care that resulted in the harm or death of a resident.

Visitation information provided includes whether the state has adopted the visitation guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in September, policies on essential caregivers, and whether visitors are required to be tested.  Note that state policies on visitation are in flux.  Because of the recent CMS guidance, many states are either adopting that guidance or modifying their own and incorporating some of the CMS guidance. 

Because each state is adopting its own policies, the information is changing frequently.  The Consumer Voice will keep the information as up to date as possible.

Find information for your state.

Share Your Experience as Visits Resume in Long-Term Care Facilities
As many facilities across the country begin to allow visitation, many families will be seeing their loved ones in person for the first time in nearly six months. Consumer Voice would like to hear from you about your visits and about how your loved one is managing during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Despite the guidance issued in September by the Centers of Medicare & Mediciad Services (CMS), many states are still prohibiting visitation.  If you were prevented from visiting your loved one, we want to hear from you, as well. Consumer Voice is seeking your input so that we may use it to advocate, at the state and federal levels, on behalf of  residents for the implementation of current visitation requirements and for the expansion of access to their loved ones.

Fill out our reentry survey to share your experience.

Materials Available from Webinar with Dr. Susan Wehry on Strengthening Families as They Reunite
Materials are available from last week's webinar from Consumer Voice and the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program with speaker Dr. Susan Wehry, "Strengthening Families as They Reunite in Uncertain Times."  The pandemic has impacted everyone but perhaps none more than people living in long-term care and their families and friends. Our journey of recovery from this unprecedented global pandemic will involve a unique combination of trauma-informed care and disaster relief. On this webinar, we discussed the principles and interventions of moving forward while supporting ourselves and our families. We talked specifically about visitation in long-term care; as facilities transition to in-person visitation, reconnection with loved ones may present challenges.

Watch the recording and see the slides.

National Academies Announces Appointments to Committee on the Quality Care in Nursing Homes

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has announced its provisional appointments to its Committee on the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes.  The Committee will study the delivery, financing, regulation, and measurement of quality in nursing homes, focusing specifically on challenges that have arisen in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Committee members include Kathy Greenlee, former Assistant Secretary of Aging and former Administrator of the Administration for Community Living, and Bill Scanlon, former managing director of health care issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Learn more about the Committee and see the other Committee members.

Updated NCEA Brief on the Mistreatment of LGBT Elders

The National Center on Elder Abuse and Keck School of Medicine of USC partnered with National Resource Center on LGBT Aging and SAGE to update content on their existing brief, "Mistreatment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Elders.”  This research brief synthesizes the latest available information and research relating to the mistreatment of LGBT elders. Information is provided on the occurrence of abuse, isolation as a risk factor, issues affecting help seeking, and tips for working with LGBT elders.

Read the updated brief.

Postcards Designed by Residents of Long-Term Care

Connect with family and friends by sending a postcard with artwork designed by residents of long-term care facilities!  As a part of the Resident's Voice Challenge, residents submitted artwork to creatively express how connections matter. 

We chose ten designs to be featured on two sets of postcards.  Each set, Connection Matters postcards or other artwork postcards, includes ten postcards (mailable via a regular stamp) for $7.50 plus shipping.

Visit our online store to purchase a set of postcards.  Also, don't miss our Connection Matters face masks and buttons.