Keeping Residents Active Can Forestall Falls

It is important for physicians, staff, and families to find creative ways for residents to stay on the move.

Read more at http://www.providermagazine.com/archives/2020_Archives/Pages/0620/Keeping-Residents-Active-Can-Forestall-Falls.aspx

Uncomfortable Truths

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed many uncomfortable truths about serving seniors.

The worst isn’t that long-term care providers are prioritized way behind hospitals in funding and all around perception. No, the most brutal truth is that ageism is thoroughly soaked into the collective U.S. mind.

https://bit.ly/3eSdBEH

A Step-by-Step Guide to Preventing PPE-Related Skin Damage

Personal protective equipment (PPE) has been essential to protecting healthcare workers from the novel coronavirus, but it presents its own set of challenges to their health, notably skin damage associated with prolonged use of PPE.

Find out what you can do to avoid skin damage at https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/929590#vp_1

Federal Help Falters as Nursing Homes Run Short of Protective Equipment

Around the country, nursing homes trying to protect their residents from the coronavirus eagerly await boxes of masks, eyewear and gowns promised by the federal government. But all too often the packages deliver disappointment — if they arrive at all.

Read the full article at https://www.managedhealthcareconnect.com/content/federal-help-falters-nursing-homes-run-short-protective-equipment

CMS Issues Nursing Home Reopening Recommendations for State and Local Officials.

Today, CMS provided recommendations [cl.exct.net] on a nursing home phased reopening for states. The recommendations cover the following items:

  • Recommendations for testing residents and staff
  • Dedicated space for cohorting residents with COVID-19
  • Criteria for relaxing certain restrictions and mitigating the risk of resurgence
  • Visitation and service considerations
  • Restoration of survey activities

The guidance encourages state leaders to collaborate with the state survey agency and local health departments to decide how these criteria should be implemented.  Given the critical importance in limiting COVID-19 exposure in nursing homes, CMS recommends that decisions on relaxing restrictions be made with careful review of the following facility-level, community, and state factors:

  • Baseline test of all residents, weekly testing of all staff, practicing social distancing, and universal source control for residents and visitors (e.g., face coverings)
  • Status of COVID-19 cases in the local community
  • Status of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes
  • Adequate staffing
  • Access to adequate personal protective equipment (PPE)
  • Local hospital capacity

Read the press release [cl.exct.net], guidance [cl.exct.net] and FAQs [cl.exct.net] from CMS.

CMS Issues Nursing Homes Best Practices Toolkit to Combat COVID-19

CMS released a new toolkit [cl.exct.net] intended to serve as a catalog of resources dedicated to addressing the specific challenges facing nursing homes as they combat COVID-19.

CMS says the toolkit provides resources and direction for quality improvement assistance and can help in the creation and implementation of strategies and interventions intended to manage and prevent the spread of COVID-19 within nursing homes. The toolkit outlines best practices for a variety of subjects ranging from infection control to workforce and staffing. It also provides contact information for organizations who stand ready to assist with the unique challenges posed by caring for individuals in long-term care settings.