CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated the resource, Viral Respiratory Pathogens Toolkit for Nursing Homes. This toolkit helps nursing home infection preventionists and leadership prepare for and respond to nursing home residents or health care personnel who develop signs or symptoms of a respiratory viral infection. The CDC has extensively updated the resources section, including links to information on this season’s vaccine recommendations, testing and treatment, billing and payment, and infection prevention and control. While the toolkit is tailored toward nursing homes, the resources and many of the listed actions could be adapted for use in other long-term care settings.

On Friday, September 24, 2021 the CDC recommended booster shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for people at highest risk of serious illness and those in high risk occupational and institutional settings. CDC guidance now reccomends that individuals should receive a booster shot if they are: 65 years old or older,18 years old or older and live in a long-term care setting, aged 50–64 years and have underlying medical conditions.

The CDC has provided a new COVID-19 resource on their website for people with intellectual and development disabilities. This resource was developed by the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) to provide individuals with low literacy and their caregivers information on how to stay safe during the pandemic. The virtual resource explains vaccinations, COVID-19 testing, handwashing, mask-wearing and social distancing through videos and visual storytelling.

CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has been fielding the 5th wave of the biennial National Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Study (NPALS). NCHS is asking Directors of adult day services centers and residential care communities to participate in the study by completing and submitting the ADSC and RCC questionnaire. To review the 2020 ADSC and RCC survey FAQs, download samples and learn more about the study, visit the portal.

This action brief offers an overview of the challenges of caregiving for people living with dementia, then provides state, local, and tribal public health leaders with a framework and resources for action. It calls for public health to employ its chief health strategist role by bringing key stakeholders from multiple sectors to the table — alongside caregivers for adults living with dementia — to develop a broad, 360-degree, macro-level approach to promoting caregiving.

This is the first study to forecast Alzheimer's Disease by race and ethnicity and reveals disparities along both lines. It is predicted that by 2060, the burden from Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) will double. Therefore, the information from this study is critical in supporting the necessary public health planning and the development of appropriate support for the ADRD population and caregivers.

This report expands upon the already established fact that falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths among people 65 years and over. It reports on the increasing rate of deaths from falls, noting that they increased 31% from 2007 to 2016. In people aged 85 and over, this rate increased 3.9% per year. This report emphasizes the need for providers to take actionable steps towards reducing falls, including through targeted interventions such as prescribing balance exercises.

This report looks at methods of calculating the costs associated with falls in older adults. It presents two methods to calculate these costs: partial attributable fraction, which focuses on the details of payer type, and count applied to cost, which utilizes states’ own counts to assess lifetime costs. The goal of this report is to encourage states to use effective cost calculation to plan more targeted preventive measures going forward.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has released data regarding emergency department visits for injury and illness among adults aged 65 and over in the United States, covering the years 2012–2013. Key findings included a visit rate of 12 per 100 persons for injury and 36 per 100 persons for illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with a group of elder abuse experts, released a new publication, Elder Abuse Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Core Data Elements. There is no consistent definition of elder abuse or neglect, which makes comparing data from different states and regions very challenging. This paper serves to establish consistent definitions and data elements to make comparing data easier.