Blogs, Guest Columns, Things I Think and Living Leadership
To properly address COVID-19 in nursing homes, we need to fix underlying issues
By
Joseph DeMattos Jr.
May 20, 2020
My heart breaks for people impacted by the historic threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while it may seem like it has already been an eternity, we still have a long battle with this virus ahead of us....
Celebrate Psychology Day on May 27
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
May 19, 2020
While it would be wonderful to have a systemwide honoring of psychology, psychologists and mental health, even small gestures of acknowledgement can go a long way toward emotional repair, in these pandemic-stressed...
Setting minds and hearts at ease: a clinician’s guide to end-of-life-care conversations
By
Joseph Shega, M.D.
May 18, 2020
Having honest conversations with long-term care residents about their end-of-life wishes should always be a priority for primary care physicians, specialists and facility clinicians. The COVID-19 pandemic...
Three communications truths during COVID-19 (or in any crisis)
By
Katie Adkisson
May 17, 2020
The nursing home industry has a target on its back right now. The industry as a whole is being harshly criticized in the media, leaving questions not only about its state of preparedness but the quality...
We must solve the senior isolation epidemic. Their lives may depend on it
By
Joel Landau
May 14, 2020
As the coronavirus pandemic unfolded and concerns arose about the increased risk of infection facing older Americans, another worry came to the forefront: social isolation. This concern is of a long-term...
Masks change everything
By
Gary Tetz
May 14, 2020
Now that small respiratory droplets created by human speech have been found to hang out in the air for more than eight minutes, requiring masks in long-term care and any other setting where people congregate...
The case for COVID-19 nursing homes
By
Raj Mahajan, M.D.
May 13, 2020
As the month of May opened, the Navy’s hospital ship “Comfort” departed Manhattan, having housed fewer than 200 patients over 3 ½ weeks, and the state of New York announced plans to...
Sometimes, you just have to pivot
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
May 12, 2020
Have you ever watched a basketball game? These lithe athletes are running down the court going in one direction and then BAM! They stop, plant a foot, pivot and go in another direction.
Three solutions embraced during the COVID-19 crisis that could be used to expand our clinical workforce
By
John Reinhart
May 11, 2020
The COVID-19 crisis has been extremely challenging for those organizations and healthcare professionals who offer services to our “at risk” population especially our seniors. Our elderly members...
Are you read to take one for the grandkids?
By
Larry Minnix
May 08, 2020
if we open up our country and “let the virus be the virus,” I suggest a program that designates three basic classes of Americans.