It’s been more than four years since the onset of the tragic pandemic that took the lives of nearly a quarter million vulnerable older adults living in nursing homes. Their lives mattered. How they spent...
CDC: Fully 30 percent of Medicare outpatients treated with antibiotics for COVID-19
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 14, 2022
Antibiotics, chiefly azithromycin, were commonly prescribed to Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with COVID-19 during the pandemic’s first year, CDC researchers have found.
Report: Nearly 80 percent of U.S. workers want employers to encourage or require vax for in-person staff
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 20, 2022
U.S. workers have been rattled by the omicron surge and most are looking to their employer to stay fully engaged in COVID-19 precautions, analysts say.
CMS: A quarter of Medicare recipients skipped needed healthcare during pandemic
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 21, 2020
Fully 21% of beneficiaries have forgone needed healthcare for something other than COVID-19. Nearly half say they did not want to risk being at a medical facility, according to CMS.
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...
Neurological conditions common within 6 months of COVID diagnosis
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 08, 2021
Fully one third of patients with COVID-19 go on to develop substantial neurological and psychiatric problems, including anxiety disorder, dementia, and stroke, a new study finds. Investigators foresee...
Nurses report glaring gender pay gap, overwork in new survey
By
Alicia Lasek (f3)
May 12, 2022
Despite an overall increase in salaries, registered nurses report glaring differences in pay and concerns about equity and overwork that could affect already troubled pandemic-era staffing levels.
COVID-19 stress has hit older adults with health problems hardest, latest poll shows
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 16, 2021
Seniors with poor physical and mental health have endured an outsized burden of pandemic stress, according to a National Poll on Healthy Aging update.
The impact of chronic disease and the inequitable burden of COVID-19 must be addressed as the U.S. moves into a new pandemic phase, two experts contend.
Vaccinated seniors report more pandemic fears, isolation than unvaccinated peers, poll finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 04, 2021
Vaccinated Americans aged 50 years and older are more worried about infection, more likely to practice social distancing, and more likely to describe their mental health as worse, say researchers at the...