Latest KFF Health News Stories
Confronting Ageism in Health Care: A Conversation for Patients, Caregivers and Clinicians
A frank, practical and empowering conversation about this pervasive, systemic problem of bias, discrimination or stereotyping based on age.
California Vaccine Mandate Extends to Aides for People With Disabilities
Even though they perform the same intimate tasks as nursing home and hospital workers, in-home health aides initially were left out of California’s vaccine mandate. They must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 30.
Minister for Seniors at Famed Church Confronts Ageism and the Shame It Brings
Lynn Casteel Harper, a minister at the interdenominational Riverside Church in New York City, discusses the spiritual dimension of aging.
After Pandemic Ravaged Nursing Homes, New State Laws Protect Residents
This year, 23 states passed more than 70 pandemic-related provisions affecting nursing homes, including measures setting minimum staffing levels, expanding visitation protections and limiting owners’ profit margins.
Biden’s No-Jab-No-Job Order Creates Quandary for Nursing Homes
Nursing home operators acknowledge that large numbers of staff members are not getting the shots but fear a federal vaccination mandate could drive away workers in a tight labor market.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Booster Time
As the delta variant continues to spread around the U.S., the Biden administration is taking steps to authorize covid vaccine boosters, require nursing home workers to be vaccinated and protect school officials who want to require masks despite state laws banning those mandates. Meanwhile, the U.S. House is returning from its summer break early to start work on its giant budget bill, which includes a long list of health policy changes. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Clarity on Covid Count: Pandemic’s Toll on Seniors Extended Well Beyond Nursing Homes
The latest research shows that although deaths in nursing homes received enormous attention, far more older adults who perished from covid lived outside of institutions. People with dementia and other severe neurological conditions, chronic kidney disease and immune deficiencies were hit especially hard.
Amid Covid Booster Debate, West Virginia to Check Immunity of Vaccinated Nursing Home Residents
The state says it will look at the levels of disease-fighting antibodies among nursing home residents vaccinated against covid, which could help indicate whether they need a booster shot.
Adolescentes voluntarios se abren paso como futuros profesionales en hogares de adultos mayores
Desde que se puso en marcha en 2006, el programa de desarrollo para la carrera en geriatría ha ayudado a más de 700 estudiantes de secundaria de 10 escuelas de bajos recursos, en la ciudad de Nueva York, a adquirir experiencia práctica en cuidados geriátricos.
Teen Volunteers Get a Foot in the Door for Nursing Home Careers
A group of New York senior living facilities offer teens from 10 underserved schools the chance to volunteer and get free training for entry-level health jobs, career coaching and assistance on college prep.
Zooming Into the Statehouse: Nursing Home Residents Use New Digital Skills to Push for Changes
Connecticut residents who learned how to communicate with family and friends through digital technology when their nursing homes closed to visitors last year used that skill to testify remotely during legislative hearings on bills affecting them.
The number of Americans 65 and older is expected to nearly double in the next 40 years. Finding a way to provide and pay for the long-term health services they need won’t be easy.
In California, Nursing Home Owners Can Operate After They’re Denied a License
Nursing home chain ReNew Health continues to care for hundreds of patients even after the state attempted to crack down. Before and during the pandemic, homes connected to ReNew had safety violations.
Big Investors Push Nursing Homes to Upgrade Care and Working Conditions
Responsible for 34% of the nation’s covid death toll, nursing homes and long-term care facilities get slammed by their investors and are told to change.
Lost on the Frontline: Explore the Database
As of Wednesday, the KHN-Guardian project counted 3,607 U.S. health worker deaths in the first year of the pandemic. Today we add 39 profiles, including a hospice chaplain, a nurse who spoke to intubated patients “like they were listening,” and a home health aide who couldn’t afford to stop working. This is the most comprehensive count in the nation as of April 2021, and our interactive database investigates the question: Did they have to die?
Covid Cases Plummet 83% Among Nursing Home Staffers Despite Vaccine Hesitancy
Federal records show a steep decline in staff covid cases since December, when health care workers at thousands of nursing homes began getting their shots. Still, many are reluctant to get vaccinated.
Behind The Byline: Reporting Road Trip
Check out KHN’s video series — Behind The Byline: How the Story Got Made. Come along as journalists and producers offer an insider’s view of health care coverage that does not quit.
Por el bienestar de los abuelos, buscan reabrir hogares de adultos mayores
Ahora es el momento de aliviar a los residentes del abrumador y brutal aislamiento, dice un grupo cada vez más grande de expertos, cuidadores, consumidores y médicos.
Reopening of Long-Term Care Facilities Is ‘an Absolute Necessity for Our Well-Being’
Relatives and advocates are calling for federal authorities to relax restrictions in long-term care institutions and grant special status to “essential caregivers” — family members or friends who provide critically important hands-on care — so they have the opportunity to tend to relatives in need.
Sorting Out How Politics, Policies Figure in Flap Over New York Nursing Home Covid Death Rates
The debate begins with the covid death tallies. But the issues go beyond basic numbers.
