We have so many clients complaining abut not being able to see their loved ones in local nursing homes. Hopefully, that will change soon. Consumer advocates and other experts are pushing long-term care facilities to reconsider their restrictive visitation policies which prevents families from knowing what is going on inside the facility.
“Keeping the doors shut is harmful to the health of residents. Good policy demands more nuanced thinking about how some visitors contribute to their safety,” health care policy expert and Harvard professor David Grabowski, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania physician Jason Karlawish, MD, and law professor Allison Koffman, argued in an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Monday.
However, most nursing homes cannot meet The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released guidelines that called on nursing homes to meet testing and infection control standards before allowing visitors. Facilities could stagger visits, limiting where they can be and require them to submit to testing, temperature checks and wearing masks.
“The harm of keeping essential care partners out can itself be a great threat to well-being, as many families have learned,” they wrote. “The risks of visits can be minimized in these controlled situations, as we know more now about the spread of COVID-19. And family and friends will likely be the most vigilant of anyone in protecting their loved ones from exposure.”