As I listened last week to a web event on confronting ageism in healthcare, I found myself nodding in agreement with the participants, who were all themselves nodding at the comments of their collaborators. ...
How to give feedback that gets results
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Oct 12, 2021
Whether coaching supervisors on leadership skills or teaching employees to follow proper infection control procedures, the way in which feedback is offered can have an enormous impact on how it’s received...
We need staff… NOW
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Sep 28, 2021
Last year, as the pandemic raged in New York City and sirens filled the air, a group of young travel nurses arrived to assist weary long-term care teams. They took over nursing stations that had been depleted...
Reducing the impact of cascading collective trauma in LTC
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Sep 14, 2021
I spent most of last weekend doing what I could to avoid the 9/11-related headlines in the news. With my Manhattan-below-14th-Street recollections of the event, last year’s immersion in the pandemic...
How to keep working in LTC (when you’re not sure how much more you can take)
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Aug 31, 2021
When I speak to long-term care groups, whether to those in leadership positions or to direct care staff, it’s clear that virtually all the audience members have been drawn to the industry because of...
As the editors of the June 2021 volume of The Gerontologist put it, “Workforce issues are the most significant challenges facing the long-term care industry.” This special edition of the journal...
Vaccines: Saving face
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Aug 03, 2021
I watched warily as Leo wheeled his cart onto the elevator with me, his mask below his nose. He used to pull it up when he saw me, mindful of the many conversations we’d had about getting the vaccine,...
Foster relationships to improve staff retention
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Jul 20, 2021
“God bless you,” an aide said to me the other day after I handed her a container of homemade green bean salad. She’d joined the same psychology-based weight loss program I was using and the green...
My look: Forever changed by the pandemic?
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Jun 22, 2021
For my first 20-plus years as a long-term care psychologist, I arrived on the job wearing not just clothes, but outfits. I chose garb that contributed to the sense of “expertness, attractiveness, and...
The pandemic narrative, a tool for mental health
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Apr 27, 2021
Comparisons between April 2020 and April 2021 are surprisingly jolting in some ways. Not until I composed this blog did I fully realize how far we’ve come, regarding pandemic conditions, and life...