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The Trump administration hailed rapid tests as the way to halt COVID’s spread in nursing homes. A KHN analysis of federal data shows they’re not being used, as questions linger about accuracy and best practices.
Frequently employed by staffing agencies based in other states, nurses and other healthcare professionals can find themselves working through crisis without advocates or adequate safety equipment.
Older adults are deliberating what to do as days and nights turn chilly and coronavirus cases rise across the country. Some are forming “bubbles” with small groups of friends who agree on pandemic precautions and will see one another in person. Others are planning to go it alone.
An analysis of location data from 30 million smartphones found that facilities across the country that share the most workers also had the most COVID-19 infections. The "Kevin Bacon of nursing homes" in each state — the one with the most staffers working at other nursing homes — was likely to have the worst outbreaks of coronavirus contagion.
More than eight months into the pandemic, stockpiling of masks and other protective equipment by wealthy hospital systems is straining nursing homes and smaller providers who also need precious protective gear to keep front-line workers safe from COVID-19.
In North Carolina, staffs at nursing homes and assisted living facilities are prohibited by law from helping residents vote. So community members fill the gap, venturing into some of the places hit hardest by the coronavirus.
Seniors tend to have more serious symptoms than younger coronavirus patients, including the aftereffects of hospital-based delirium. Doctors recommend physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and cognitive rehabilitation.
Home health aides flattened the curve by keeping the most vulnerable patients — seniors, the disabled, the infirm — out of hospitals. But they’ve done it mostly at poverty wages and without overtime pay, hazard pay, sick leave or health insurance.
Retirement areas are increasingly being built in the idyllic wooded fringe of towns and cities. Being close to nature also means being in the path of wildfires.
Voting is a point of pride for many older Americans, and senior living facilities in past years have encouraged the civic act by hosting voting precincts, providing transportation to the polls and bringing in groups to help explain election issues. But fears of the spread of the coronavirus among this vulnerable population make voting more difficult this year.
These seniors use coping strategies to keep them socially active yet safe from the coronavirus.
Pop-up care facilities bring together a range of specialists to address the needs of patients who survive but continue to wrestle with COVID-19’s physical or mental effects, including lung damage, heart or neurological concerns, anxiety and depression.
Listen to “Where It Hurts,” each episode debuting on Tuesdays, from Sept. 29 through Nov. 10. When Mercy Hospital Fort Scott shut its doors, locals lost care. Health workers lost jobs. The hole left behind is bigger than a hospital. Season One is “No Mercy.”
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
More than 70,000 residents and staff members at nursing homes and assisted living facilities have died of COVID-19, and others are under strict rules designed to keep the disease from spreading. That has evoked concern that living in a communal facility could be dangerous.
A new treatment for tooth decay is cheaper, quicker and less painful than getting a filling. Originally touted as a solution for kids, silver diamine fluoride is poised to become a game changer for treating cavities in older adults or those with disabilities that make oral care difficult.
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Studies show that at least half of ground ambulance rides across the nation leave patients with “surprise” medical bills. And a $300-a-mile ride is not unusual. Yet federal legislation to stem what’s known as balance billing has largely ignored ambulance costs.
COVID patients have been commingled with uninfected patients in California, Florida, New Jersey, Iowa, Ohio, Maryland, New York and beyond. While officials have penalized nursing homes for such failures, hospitals have seen less scrutiny.
Older Blacks are perishing quietly, out of sight, victims of the pandemic and a lifetime of racism and its attendant adverse health effects.
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