As COVID-19 Lurks, Families Are Locked Out Of Nursing Homes. Is It Safe Inside?
“The awful truth is families have no control over what’s happening,” one advocate says.
Seniors With COVID-19 Show Unusual Symptoms, Doctors Say
Older bodies respond to infection in different ways. Seniors may sleep more or stop eating. They may be confused or dizzy. They might simply collapse.
COVID-19 Crisis Threatens Beleaguered Assisted Living Industry
The Capital Senior Living chain of assisted living communities and others like it were struggling financially before coronavirus suddenly appeared. Now their situation is really getting tough.
Inside Meals On Wheels’ Struggle To Keep Older Americans Fed During A Pandemic
Its older volunteers are staying home and its clients, mostly age 75 and up, are more vulnerable than ever.
Should You Bring Mom Home From Assisted Living During The Pandemic?
Families are weighing the challenges of providing home care with the isolation or potential danger of leaving folks in senior housing or long-term care.
Coronavirus Patients Caught In Conflict Between Hospital And Nursing Homes
Hospitals need to clear out patients who no longer need acute care. But nursing homes are alarmed at the prospect of taking patients who may have the coronavirus.
Federal Judge Rules Medicare Patients Can Challenge ‘Observation Care’ Status
Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to appeal hospitals’ decisions to classify them as “observation care” patients instead of inpatients, under a ruling last week in a class action suit.
‘Red Dawn Breaking Bad’: Officials Warned About Safety Gear Shortfall Early On, Emails Show
As President Donald Trump called the nation “in good shape” to handle COVID-19, a cache of emails released by officials in Washington state show that top public health authorities feared gear shortages and doctor safety in the early epicenter of sickness and deaths.
Dental Shock: Six Pulled Teeth And One Unexpected Bill
One woman’s experience with the high cost of dental care and confusing Medicare coverage offers a teachable moment for other consumers. Her small church took up a collection, but the surprise bill — four times what she expected to pay — was sent to collections.
Coronavirus Stress Test: Many 5-Star Nursing Homes Have Infection-Control Lapses
Since the beginning of 2017, inspectors have cited more nursing homes for failing to ensure that all workers follow federal prevention and control protocols than for any other type of violation, according to federal records.
Corralling Hard-To-Reach Voters With Traveling Voting Machines
In advance of the Super Tuesday primary, California’s Los Angeles County is rotating new touch-screen voting machines among 41 locations, including adult day care centers and jails, to increase voting among populations with historically low turnout.
Nursing Home Outbreak Spotlights Coronavirus Risk In Elder Care Facilities
The spread of coronavirus disease to a skilled nursing facility in Washington state underscores the risk the deadly new virus poses in elder care facilities, where illnesses caused by more common pathogens, like seasonal influenza, often spread rapidly.
Finding Connections And Comfort At The Local Cafe
For Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, social and emotional isolation is a threat. But hundreds of “Memory Cafes” around the country offer them a chance to be with others who understand, and to receive social and cognitive stimulation in the process.
What To Do If Your Home Health Care Agency Ditches You
If you’re told Medicare’s home health benefits have changed, don’t believe it: Coverage rules haven’t been altered and people are still entitled to the same types of services. All that has changed is how Medicare pays agencies.
Why Home Health Care Is Suddenly Harder To Come By For Medicare Patients
Medicare has changed how it pays for services. In response, agencies across the country are firing therapists, limiting physical, occupational and speech therapy, and terminating services for some longtime, severely ill patients.
Patients Want A ‘Good Death’ At Home, But Hospice Care Can Badly Strain Families
Fewer Americans are dying in a hospital, under the close supervision of doctors and nurses. That trend has been boosted by an expanded Medicare benefit that helps people live out their final days at home in hospice care. But as home hospice grows, so has the burden on families left to provide much of the care.
Diagnosed With Dementia, She Documented Her Wishes. They Said No.
Across the U.S., people with early dementia are signing new advance directives to confirm their end-of-life wishes while they still have the ability to do so. But doctors say the documents may offer a false sense of security.
The Health Care Promises We Cannot Keep
Family caregivers pledge to fulfill their loved ones’ end-of-life wishes. But too often circumstances change, and they must break their word and guard against breaking hearts ― including their own.
As His Wife’s Caregiver, A Doctor Discovers What’s Missing At Health Care’s Core
Harvard psychiatrist Arthur Kleinman shed his “veil of ignorance” during 11 years serving as the primary family caregiver for his wife, who had a rare form of early Alzheimer’s disease. In a new book, “The Soul of Care,” he offers suggestions for transforming health care ― just as caregiving transformed him.
‘I Feel Like I’m In Jail’: Hospital Alarms Torment Patients
As alarms proliferate, hospitals are working to sort through the cacophony that can overwhelm staff and cause them to overlook real signs of harm.
