As a geropsychologist and a New Yorker, I’ve been relieved to see the after-the-fact uncovering of the true number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes in New York last year.
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...
Fostering post-traumatic growth in long-term care
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Dec 01, 2020
While crises often have short- and long-term negative effects, psychologists have found that there also can be opportunities for positive change.
From blame to education: Rethinking the nursing home survey process
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Nov 17, 2020
What if, instead of a system based on the notion that nursing homes should be punished for deliberately flouting the rules, the underlying belief was that facilities were trying to do their best?
McDonald’s versus long-term care: How nursing homes can compete for staff
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Sep 22, 2020
Recent calls1, 2, 3 for an increase in nursing staff levels may have providers wondering how to accomplish this. Under normal circumstances it can be challenging to find qualified individuals; the pandemic...
Increasing the positive visibility of long-term care
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Sep 08, 2020
The COVID-19 health emergency has opened a rare window of receptivity in society to recognize the needs of elders and their caregivers.
My job in a COVID-19 hotspot didn’t give me COVID — it gave me PTSD
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Aug 11, 2020
Even a long-term care psychologist can fall prey to the psychological and emotional terrors of the COVID-19 pandemic, I can unfortunately report to you with ironic confidence.
A look at Germany’s intriguing long-term care system
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Feb 25, 2020
There’s a lot we can learn from the German long-term care system.
Getting ‘hygge’ with it, at the holidays and year-round
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Dec 17, 2019
Nursing homes, which could generally do with an increased focus on “home” over “nursing,” have many reasons and opportunities to add some hygge.
Nurses and physicians can be taught to recognize health problems typical of the severe mental illness population so that they’ll be alert to the increased risk of illnesses such as diabetes, metabolic...