I. FOLLOWING THE NARRATIVE: A quick summary of national media trends last week.
(*LeadingAge is featured in the story.)
As a primary focus of the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan and the American Jobs Plan, caregivers and the work of helping older adults and others in need of assistance — wherever they call home — continued to generate media interest. Vaccines for staff and residents also figured strongly in coverage.
Infrastructure
- The Hill: We must go further than Biden’s American Families Plan to address critical global infrastructure
- Time Magazine: Are Childcare and Paid Leave ‘Infrastructure’? Nearly $2 Trillion for Families May Hinge on Congress’ Answer,
- The Conversation: Women-dominated child and home care work is critical infrastructure that has long been devalued
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: President’s $400B proposal to invest in Medicaid HCBS represents ‘historic opportunity,’ Democratic lawmakers, advocates argue
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Poll finds Americans favor investment in home- and-community-based services in Biden’s infrastructure plan
- Brookings: Four takeaways on new guidance for state and local fiscal relief under the American Rescue Plan
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Bill would invest $100 million, test program to bolster housing, service access for grandparent-led families
- MassLive: Reps. Jim McGovern, Ayanna Pressley reintroduce bill to help grandparent-led families access safe, affordable housing
Workforce
- The New York Times: Mother and Daughter Do the Same Job. Why Does One Make $9 More an Hour?
- Axios: U.S. nursing home employment is way down
- ABC Action News: Nursing homes search for employees even as less long-term healthcare jobs return according to the National April jobs report
- Northern Public Radio: Advocates Say Illinois Should Learn From COVID Crisis On Long-Term Care And Nursing Shortage
- Infection Control Today: Despite Billions in Aid, Nursing Homes Losing Employees in Droves
- Skilled Nursing News: How Goodwin House is Combatting and Solving the Staffing Challenge in Nursing Homes
- NPR: Hours Before Nursing Home Workers Strike, Governor Says Basic Agreement Has Been Met
Vaccines
- The New York Times: A New Covid Dilemma: What to Do When Vaccine Supply Exceeds Demand?
- Boston Globe: At nursing homes, fears of a viral rebound as workers decline COVID-19 vaccine and new residents struggle to get shots
- New York Post: Droves of NY nursing home staffers still not vaccinated against COVID-19
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Mandate staff vaccines or promote them with a $1K bonus? Which one works best might surprise you,
- Bloomberg Government: HEALTH CARE BRIEFING: Biden, Governors to Swap Vaccination Ideas
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: New CMS vaccination reporting mandate could drive nursing homes to reach 75% staff goal
Home health/future of long term care
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Senior living making case for piece of latest $350B federal pandemic relief pie
- Home Health Care News: Home Care Companies Could See Healthy Gains with Fitness-Focused Partnerships
- The Sacramento Bee: ‘I feel freer.’ How California program helps seniors ‘age at home’ during pandemic
- Skilled Nursing News: SNFs Continue to Battle Depressed Referrals as Hospital Inpatient Volumes Recover
- Health Affairs: Outcomes After Shortened Skilled Nursing Facility Stays Suggest Potential For Improving Postacute Care Efficiency
- Modern Healthcare: Congress eyes private equity-owned nursing homes after COVID-19 deaths
- Home Health Care News: How Home-Focused Conveners Bridge the Gap Between Payers, Providers
- *HealthTech Magazine: Smart Technologies Create a More Connected Environment for Older Adults
II. Other Clips That Influenced the Week: LeadingAge is a sought-out, reliable source for multiple trade and national media outlets (see that coverage on our Driving the Conversation page). Other key clips shaped the narrative last week:
- NJ Spotlight News: Two nursing homes close and may signal a trend
- Richmond Times-Dispatch: ‘Tears of joy’: Mother’s Day arrives at Richmond-area nursing homes after a year’s absence
- Washington Post: Plunging case rates spur cautious optimism in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. But experts say the trauma is far from over.
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: ‘High stakes’ as providers still face brisk infection control surveys, brace for return of standard inspections
- Skilled Nursing News: Skilled Nursing Facility Surveys Skyrocket During Pandemic
III. What’s On Our Radar–This week’s likely priorities:
- Monitoring COVID cases among older adults, workers following CDC changes on masking and ongoing campaign for vaccinations
- Ongoing discussion about infrastructure
- Older Americans Month continues
IV. National Statements & Products (all posted on ‘Driving the Conversation’ page):
- LeadingAge Calls on State and Local Government to Prioritize Older Americans in Distribution of New Federal Pandemic Relief Funds (press release)
V. State Resources Rundown: State Association COVID Media Materials: A folder of helpful resources, sample op eds, fact sheets, and more.
- Placed Op Eds: Add yours!
- New Template: Rescue Plan Media Statement:Last week, LeadingAge distributed a customizable media statement template on Treasury’s rules for implementing the American Rescue Plan aid to state and local governments following our issuance on May 12 of a national statement (see above and here) urging that members across the continuum be included in receiving those funds. We encourage you to reach out to your local media with that message as well. To help make that easy, we created the press statement (in the State Materials Google Drive Folder) that you can customize and disseminate.
