Physical Disabilities

CMS is committed to continuing to take critical steps to ensure America’s healthcare facilities are prepared to respond to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency (PHE). CMS has issued a new guidance for visitation in ICF/IIDs and PRTFs during the COVID-19 PHE. The guidance provides ways an ICF/IID and PRTF can more safely facilitate in-person visitation and address the psychosocial needs of clients/residents.

On January 14, 2021 ADvancing States sent out a call for information about how states are rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine to people receiving home and community-based services and/or Older Americans Act services. Information about logistics plans, schedules, partnerships, and communications strategies were all welcomed. This resource reflects the information states sent in response to the call and will be periodically updated as we receive more information.

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.

Nominations are now being accepted for HCUP’s Outstanding Article of the Year Award, which will recognize research published in peer-reviewed journals in 2020 that used the HCUP databases to explore and address healthcare research topics and issues. Work honored will demonstrate how HCUP has contributed to the healthcare services field. The nomination period will close on March 3, 2021. For complete information, please visit the HCUP-US website at www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/news/awards.jsp.

CIDI created a COVID-19 resource page designed to increase access to information about Coronavirus symptoms, testing and treatment. Accessible resources include braille documents available to order and digital documents designed for users accessing the page with screen readers or other assistive technology. There are ASL resources coming soon to the webpage. This project was made possible with funding from the CDC Foundation.

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

This issue brief is the second publication from the ADvancing States Aging and Disabilities Technology Workgroup, which was established in 2019 in order to drive improvements in aging and disabilities state agencies’ information technology (IT), facilitate sharing and learning among states, and assist states as they seek to implement and integrate technology that supports holistic person-centered services.

Resources for Integrated Care (RIC) invites you to explore three new resources related to engaging members in plan governance. These resources are based on feedback from participants in the 2020 Resources for Integrated Care Community of Practice.

The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) has published a First Public Working Draft of W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3.0. They are seeking input from evaluators, developers, designers, project managers, policy makers, people with disabilities, and others — particularly on the structure and the draft conformance model.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) serves over 18,000 elderly and disabled members though its Medicaid waiver program. Oklahoma’s previous paper-based system caused wait times for consumers to enroll and to receive services. With the implementation of WellSky Human Services, Oklahoma took advantage of the system’s conditional logic capabilities to capture additional information on an assessment form when needed.