We at HPP are in awe of the courage, dedication, expertise, and compassion of all of you in caring roles. You are prioritizing others’ needs and working tirelessly to protect those in your care and limit the spread of the novel corononavirus—above and beyond the everyday care you provide in your chosen line of work. We salute and thank you.

While you are giving your all to protect and save others, we offer our support with these complimentary resources to read, print, and share. We hope they provide valuable advice and inspiration in this unprecedented period of life-threatening care. It’s important to find time to pause and refresh, to lean on others, to mourn for those lost, and to find the resilience to push on to find the moments of recovery that are why you became a caregiver.

• Dementia Care at a Distance
  Creative ideas for staying connected and person-centered in a time of social distancing.
• Nursing Homes Need Support, Not Blame
  Jill Vitale-Aussem details why nursing homes need our support right now, and five things you can do to help.
• Reframing Healing as a Physician in Hospice Care
  When cure is not possible, removing the stress of the sick is good medicine. Read how one physician reframed medicine and healing when he began working in palliative care.
• Caregiver Stress Exercises
  It’s critical to manage your own stress so you can keep assisting others. Find the strategy that works for you.
• 30 Dementia Care Activities During COVID-19
  This coronavirus-sensitive list offers just a few ideas for maintaining critical socialization and engagement in this time of crisis.
• Creating Cultures of Dignity During COVID-19 and Beyond
  Leslie Pedtke reminds staff in long-term care of their strengths, and encourages all to remember how much they matter not only during this time of a pandemic, but every day.
• Our Devastating Disregard for Elder Care Workers
  Jill Vitale-Aussem shows how we can provide the desperately needed validation and support to those dedicated to the elders in their care.
• Supporting Long-Term Care Staff as They Grieve the Death of Their Residents from COVID-19
  Mary Kaplan shares policies and practices to address the grief support needs of long-term care staff, and promote the opportunity for caregivers to grieve for the loss of their residents.
• “Choose One” Activity for Enhancing Relationships
  This activity, modified for social distancing needs during COVID-19, helps caregivers gain a better understanding of residents and their life stories in meaningful ways.
• Addressing Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults During COVID-19
  These seven interventions for older adults who are socially isolated, lonely at home, or quarantined at healthcare facilities will assist you in combating the detrimental effects of social isolation and loneliness.

• Updated Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations in Response to COVID-19 Vaccination
• Long-Term Care Facility Toolkit: Preparing for COVID-19 Vaccination at Your Facility
• Why it’s important that residents of long-term care facilities get vaccinated
• Coronavirus Vaccine: Will Medicare Cover It?
• CDC’s Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People

Toolkits

• Toolkit for Older Adults and People at Higher Risk
• Toolkit for Retirement Communities

For Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities

• Resources for Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities
• COVID-19 Preparedness Checklist for Nursing Homes and Other Long-Term Care Settings
• Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Tool for Nursing Homes Preparing for COVID-19

For Assisted Living

• Considerations for Preventing Spread of COVID-19 in Assisted Living Facilities

COVID-19 Testing for Nursing Homes

• As part of CMS’ commitment to protecting nursing home residents, and to boost the surveillance of COVID-19, nursing homes are now required to conduct testing of residents and staff.  More information about these requirements and guidelines can be found here.  These guidelines include testing staff on a certain frequency based on the COVID-19 positivity rate for the county the nursing home resides in.  Rates of county positivity are posted here. (Archive is here.) Facilities should monitor these rates every other week and adjust staff testing accordingly.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), recently announced that CMS will begin providing nursing homes with a Point of Care (POC) rapid response testing instrument to bolster each facility’s ability to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The data collected through the NHSN system directly supports this initiative by helping to prioritize the nursing homes with testing needs and an increasing number of cases. For the methodology describing how facilities are prioritized, and a listing of the facilities, please click here. A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) is also available here. For more information about the testing instruments, please view CMS’ recorded webinar. Also, view CMS’ toolkit for nursing homes using point of care devices for SARS-CoV-2 testing as a quick reference guide to important information about testing.

COVID-19 Nursing Home Data

• The Nursing Home COVID-19 Public File includes data reported by nursing homes to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) system COVID-19 Long Term Care Facility Module, including Resident Impact, Facility Capacity, Staff & Personnel, and Supplies & Personal Protective Equipment, and Ventilator Capacity and Supplies Data Elements.

• NBC News has published a devastating article on the hidden Covid-19 health crisis: Elderly people are dying from isolation. The lockdowns and visitor restrictions meant to protect nursing home residents from the coronavirus can also threaten their lives.
• From the Pioneer Network: Let’s Get Serious About the Pandemic’s LTC Mental Health Price Tag
• From The New York Times: How the Aging Immune System Makes Older People Vulnerable to Covid-19

For daily updates on COVID-19 and its impact on the older adult population, follow us on Twitter.

Dementia and COVID-19: How to Help People Living with Cognitive Changes from The Green House Project
In this webinar, Dr. Al Power and other experts in dementia care discuss how they have been able to ensure person-directed, relationship-rich care for people living with dementia in a time of social isolation. You can access the session notes here.

• Education and Support Posters and Handouts
  Recommendations and information from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Print and hang in your community, or pass out to staff.
• Person-Centered Guidelines for Preserving Family Presence in Challenging Times
  Developed by an international “pop-up coalition,” these guidelines are a compassionate approach to family presence that balances the benefits of family’s physical presence with a loved one and the need to minimize the risks of transmission of COVID-19. The recommendations are now widely available to provide guidance to healthcare leaders and local and regional authorities on what constitutes responsible, compassionate family presence during, and in the aftermath of, a pandemic.

• Argentum has created the Coronoavirus Toolkit, updated often as they learn about new resources, guidelines, and public health directives
• LeadingAge has compiled a page of resources, news, and updates on corona virus
• The American Health Care Association (AHCA) joins the fight to protect seniors and individuals with disabilities in long-term with these coronavirus emergency preparedness resources, including resources by state.
• The International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) has created a COVID-19 Response Center with resources to help maintain well-being during this pandemic.