Nearly 70% of adults 65 years and over will need long-term care. That means assistance with activities of daily living like getting dressed, preparing and eating meals, bathing, and more. Nursing homes, adult day services, assisted living, home health aides, and informal caregivers can provide this help. Yet one-quarter of adults fail to believe they will need extended care and so don’t plan for it.
We need long-term solutions for older Americans' long-term care - STAT
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When long-term care is needed, many older adults and their families are suddenly hit with the realization that Medicare does not cover it.The Covid-19 vaccine distribution in Florida started out smoothly four weeks ago, with frontline healthcare workers getting the first shots. A week later, seniors living in long-term care facilities began getting the vaccine.
As doses of vaccines flowed into Florida by the tens of thousands, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on distribution. Instead of following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prioritize essential workers and those over 75, he offered the vaccine to all the state's 4.5 million seniors 65 and older.
How Florida is failing its most vulnerable seniors with Covid vaccine rollout
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opened up the distribution of the coronavirus vaccines to anyone over 65. But that has left many vulnerable seniors confused as to how they can get it.Even as the first doses of vaccine arrive in nursing homes and assisted living communities, the COVID-19 death toll among residents and staff of these facilities continues climbing to staggering heights, with the final month of 2020 proving to be the deadliest of the pandemic for long-term care.
There were more than 5,600 deaths linked to long-term care in the last week of December. Long-term care facilities — places that care for the most vulnerable, high-risk populations — now account for close to 40% of all U.S. deaths due to the virus.
COVID-19 Vaccine May Not Get To Long-Term Care Facilities Quickly Enough
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COVID-19 vaccines are reaching more long-term facilities, but many worry they won't come soon enough to stave off more deaths.MorseLife Health System, a high-end nursing home and assisted-living facility in West Palm Beach, has made scarce coronavirus vaccines — provided through a federal program intended for residents and staff of long-term-care facilities — available not just to its residents but to board members and those who made generous donations to the facility, including members of the Palm Beach Country Club, according to multiple people who were offered access, some of whom accepted it.
This, at a time when vaccines are still scarce and many of our elders are waiting to receive them!
Wealthy donors received vaccines through Florida nursing home
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The invitations alarmed local officials and may have violated state and national guidelines.Since the early days of the pandemic, some senior living industry leaders have expressed optimism that Covid-19 is creating pent-up demand that will break through once coronavirus vaccines are distributed and the public health crisis comes under control.
But as a vaccine appears imminent, the evidence and outlook on pent-up demand is mixed, with some provider executives and other industry analysts bullish about a swift bounceback and others predicting a longer recovery timeframe.
Why Senior Living Leaders Are Divided On How Fast Pent-Up Demand Will Restore Occupancy - Senior Housing News
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Since the early days of the pandemic, some senior living industry leaders have expressed optimism that Covid-19 is creating pent-up demand that will break through once coronavirus vaccines are distrib...