Long-Term Care

The most recent issue of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work, A Tribute to Rosalie Kane: Honoring Her Life and Work as Scholar, Mentor, and Social Worker in Gerontology, is dedicated to the life and work of Rosalie Kane. Rosalie helped shape much of our current thinking about long-term services and supports (LTSS). The nine articles and commentaries cover topics ranging from the importance of learning participant preferences to the role of "quality of life" measures in evaluating LTSS.

This brief by Stephen Kaye, Ph.D., published a paper setting out his analysis of mortality risk among recipients of home and community-based services. He finds that HCBS recipients between 45 and 64 years of age appear to be at greater mortality risk than the general community-resident population between 65 and 74 years of age. He concludes that this elevated mortality risk justifies increasing the vaccination priority for HCBS recipients under age 65 to equal that of the

Attorney General of New York, Letitia James (AG), released a preliminary report on the effect of COVID-19 on nursing homes in New York. The report found that pre-existing short-staffing issues were a defining factor in how a great number of nursing homes in New York fared during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care also released a report detailing harm and neglect resulting from facilities being locked down and inadequate staffing.

On January 19th Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Medicaid LTSS Annual Expenditures Report for Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2017 and 2018. This report discusses the LTSS rebalancing trends and growth in expenditures for home and community based services (HCBS) as compared to institutional spending during these select years.

This brief summarizes the available data and literature on the cross-national impact of COVID-19 in LTC settings as of October 2020 and the changes in reported death rates since June 2020. This brief was prepared through intramural research by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Behavioral Health, Disability, and Aging Policy.

The National Guardianship Association, along with the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging and the National Center for State Courts have developed an FAQ for guardians about consent for the COVID-19 vaccine for residents of long-term care facilities.

The AARP Public Policy Institute recently launched a three-year initiative which aims to transform long term care in the United States. LTSS Choices will be a series of reports, blogs, videos, podcasts, and virtual convenings that seek to catalyze reform and spark ideas to modernize LTSS, long term services and supports. The goal is a long-term care system that provides a wide range of choices to meet the dynamic needs and preferences of consumers and their families.

CMS released an update to the COVID-19 Vaccines Toolkit that was released on 10/28/20 and first updated on 11/23/20. This update includes more information on vaccine administration reimbursement and outlines a streamlined review process available to states looking to quickly adjust vaccine administration reimbursement rates in state plans. The toolkit also provides more clarification on managed care network adequacy and the phased distribution and administration approved COVID-19 vaccines.

This resource was developed for human service agency leadership whose role is directing the organization and delivery of services and supports. The five competency domains include: Strengths-Based, Culturally Informed, Whole Person-Focused; Cultivating Connections Inside the System and Out; Rights, Choice, and Control; Partnership, Teamwork, Communication, and Facilitation; and Documentation, Implementation, and Monitoring.

This resource aims to help human service agencies in states, tribes, and territories to measure their progress in developing person-centered systems. The Self-Assessment was designed to be used by staff at all levels. The Self-Assessment measures progress in eight different domains: Leadership; Person-Centered Culture; Eligibility & Service Access; Person-Centered Service Planning & Monitoring; Finance; Workforce Capacity and Capabilities; Collaboration & Partnership; and Quality & Innovation