This post was originally published on this site
The government is taking steps to protect residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term care facilities during the coronavirus crisis, nearly three months after an outbreak in a nursing home occurred in Washington state.
Most facilities began restricting access to visitors in March in an attempt to stop the spread of the infectious disease. Nursing homes, long-term care facilities and other senior-focused establishments have housed some of the most vulnerable members of society during this pandemic — the elderly and immunocompromised. These groups are at a higher risk of complications, or worse, if they contract the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this year.
See: ‘I would rather him be lonely than dead’: How to manage when someone you love is in a nursing home
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OSHA, issued guidance intended to combat the potentially devastating consequences of the coronavirus. The safety measures include tasks many centers had already begun implementing, including screening individuals regularly for symptoms, sending employees home if they become ill and maintaining at least six-feet distance between everyone wherever possible.
One-third of all coronavirus deaths in the United States have been linked to nursing homes, including residents and workers, according to a New York Times analysis. At least 14 states have had more than half of coronavirus deaths come from these types of facilities. Almost six in 10 coronavirus-related deaths have occured in nursing homes, assisted living centers and retirement communities in Maryland, for example, the Baltimore Sun reported.
New York state is under fire for a mandate that said nursing homes must accept discharged hospital patients diagnosed with COVID-19. The rule was reversed on May 10, months after it was created, the Wall Street Journal reported. Now hospitals can only send patients to nursing homes or other centers if they have tested negative.
Washington state was a high-profile example of how deadly an outbreak of the coronavirus could be in a nursing home. Within a month of the first case at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Wash., dozens of people had died and even more were infected.
The DOL also advises facilities to stagger break periods to avoid crowds in breakrooms, find alternatives to group gatherings like staff meetings and resident activities and continually monitor personal protective equipment and supplies.
Many centers are doing the best they can to balance the medical necessities with the mental and emotional well-being of their residents. Restricting access to visitors can be detrimental to residents, many of whom look forward to that time with their family and friends. Nursing home staff across the country are getting creative, such as hosting exercise and painting classes in hallways and creating signs to share with loved ones on social media. Non-profit groups are also finding ways to bring some joy to these residents, including “Love for the Elderly,” which collects and sends handwritten letters from around the U.S.
Nursing homes and other centers could be in grave danger if states open too soon, Mark Parkinson president and chief executive officer of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, said during a conference call in April. There is a correlation between confirmed cases of coronavirus in these centers and their surrounding areas. More needs to be done to help these facilities combat the spread of the virus, especially as so many establishments run out of protective gear and look for more testing and funding, he said.
