Blogs, Guest Columns, Things I Think and Living Leadership
Skilled care, mental health focus needed to decrease hospitalizations
By
Gayle Morris
Jan 11, 2021
Preventing hospitalizations is as much a sign of good health in older adults as it is a way to maintain it. The burden of infection control, preventing skin breakdown, pneumonia — and the myriad other...
Why some are resisting vaccination, and how we can help
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 10, 2021
The woeful percentages of long-term care employees willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination are going to improve. But only with time and ramped up communication efforts.
A beautiful thing to celebrate
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 07, 2021
This is a good time to focus on something undeniably positive that’s happening in our own profession.
A (fun) interactive optimistic approach to 2021
By
Julie Thorson
Jan 06, 2021
I have a challenge for you. It will take commitment, stamina and curiosity — and appreciation for all things leadership. Are you ready to join the journey?
Dogs may help save caregivers from COVID-19 exhaustion
By
Mike Powell
Jan 05, 2021
Caregiving is an admirable job, and during COVID-19 it’s been even more important. But caregivers are prone to burnout. Did you know dogs can help? Although nursing home and senior care residents...
Now is the time to correct course on flu shots
By
Ram Koppaka, M.D., Ph.D.
Jan 04, 2021
As a possible flu season looms in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health and lives of older adults living in long-term care facilities face a potential double threat, making flu vaccination more...
The Equalizer: A holiday story from the ‘Before’ time
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Dec 29, 2020
She told me about her life via handwritten notes and the occasional use of a talking computer that verbalized what she painstakingly typed out. “I’ve been a cripple ever since I got polio as a...
The worst year ever?
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Dec 22, 2020
Was 2020 really “the worst year ever”? Let’s take a closer look. It might open your eyes.
A bit of Christmas gratitude for nursing home staff
By
Herb Hildebrandt, Ph.D, Hl.D.
Dec 23, 2020
Editor’s note: The author penned this poem for the staff at Trinity Health’s Glacier Hills senior living facility, in Ann Arbor, MI, where he lives. He offers it here as an ode to all long-term care...
When do we get our Rosie the Riveter moment?
By
Erin Viale
Dec 21, 2020
It’s a pandemic paradox: How can we have both a staffing crisis and an unemployment crisis? At the end of 2020, 12 million Americans will lose their unemployment benefits. This is in addition...