Families are not happy with states requiring Covid tests for nursing home visits

This is a huge inconvenience, but what’s most upsetting is that no one seems to have any kind of long-term plan for families and residents

As covid-19 cases rise again in nursing homes, a few states have begun requiring visitors to present proof that they’re not infected before entering facilities, stoking frustration and dismay among family members.

Officials in California, New York, and Rhode Island say new covid testing requirements are necessary to protect residents — an enormously vulnerable population — from exposure to the highly contagious omicron variant. But many family members say they can’t secure tests amid enormous demand and scarce supplies, leaving them unable to see loved ones. And being shut out of facilities feels unbearable, like a nightmare recurring without end.

Photo: Avelino Calvar Martinez/Burst

Severe staff shortages are complicating the effort to ensure safety while keeping facilities open; these shortages also jeopardize care at long-term care facilities — a concern of many family members.

Andrea DuBrow’s 75-year-old mother, who has severe Alzheimer’s disease, has lived for almost four years in a nursing home in Danville, California. When DuBrow wasn’t able to see her for months earlier in the pandemic, she said, her mother forgot who she was.

"This latest restriction is essentially another lockdown," DuBrow said at a meeting last week about California’s new regulations. "The time that my mom has left when she can recognize in some small locked-away part of her that it is me, her daughter, cleaning her, feeding her, holding her hand, singing her favorite songs — that time is being stolen from us."

"This is a huge inconvenience, but what’s most upsetting is that no one seems to have any kind of long-term plan for families and residents," said Ozzie Rohm, whose 94-year-old father lives in a San Francisco nursing home.

Why are family members subject to testing requirements that aren’t applied to staffers, Rohm wondered. If family members are vaccinated and boosted, wear good masks, stay in a resident’s room, and practice rigorous hand hygiene, do they pose more of a risk than staffers who follow these procedures?

California was the first state to announce new policies for visitors to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities on Dec. 31. Those took effect on Jan. 7 and remain in place for at least 30 days. To see a resident, a person must show evidence of a negative covid rapid test taken within 24 hours or a PCR test taken within 48 hours. Also, covid vaccinations are required.

In a statement announcing the new policy, the California Department of Public Health cited "the greater transmissibility" of the omicron variant and the need to "protect the particularly vulnerable populations in long-term care settings." Throughout the pandemic, nursing home residents have suffered disproportionately high rates of illness and death.

New York followed California with a Jan. 7 announcement that nursing home visitors would need to show proof of a negative rapid test taken no more than a day before. And on Jan. 10, Rhode Island announced a new rule requiring proof of vaccination or a negative covid test.

Patient advocates are worried other states might adopt similar measures. "We are concerned that Omicron will be used as an excuse to shut down visitation again," said Sam Brooks, program and policy manager for the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, an advocacy group for people living in these facilities.

"We do not want to go back to the past two years of lockdowns in nursing homes and resident isolation and neglect," he continued.

That’s also a priority for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which has emphasized since Nov. 12 residents’ right to receive visitors without restriction as long as safety protocols are followed. Nursing homes could encourage but not require visitors to take tests in advance or provide proof of covid vaccination, guidance from CMS explained. Safety protocols included wearing masks, rigorous hand hygiene, and maintaining adequate physical distance from other residents.

With the rise of omicron, however, facilities pushed back. On Dec. 17, an organization representing nursing home medical directors and two national long-term care associations sent a letter to CMS’ administrator asking for more flexibility to "protect resident safety" and "place temporary visitation restrictions in nursing homes." On Jan. 6, CMS affirmed residents’ right to visitation but said states could "take additional measures to make visitation safer."

Asked for comment about the states’ recent actions, the federal agency said in a statement to KHN that "a state may require nursing homes to test visitors as long as the facility provides the rapid antigen tests, and there are enough testing supplies. … However, if there are not enough rapid testing supplies, the visits must be allowed to occur without a test (while still adhering to other practices, such as masking and physical distancing)."

Some relief from test shortages may be at hand under the Biden administration’s new plan to distribute four free tests per household. But for family members who visit nursing home residents several times a week, that supply won’t go very far.

Since the start of the year, tension over the balance between safety and residents’ rights to visitation has intensified. In the week ended Jan. 9, 57,243 nursing home staffers reported covid infections, almost 10 times as many as three weeks before. During the same period, resident infections rose to 32,061, almost eight times as many as three weeks earlier.

But outbreaks are occurring against a different backdrop today. More than 87% of nursing home residents have been fully vaccinated, according to CMS, and 63% have also received boosters, reducing the risk that covid poses. Also, nursing homes have gained experience handling outbreaks. And the toll of nursing home lockdowns — loneliness, despair, neglect, and physical deterioration — is now far better understood.

"We have all seen the negative effects of restricting visitation on residents’ health and well-being," said Joseph Gaugler, a professor who studies long-term care at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health. "For nursing homes to go back into a bunker mentality and shut everything down, that’s not a solution."

Amid egregious staffing shortages, "we need people in these buildings who can take care of residents, and often those are visitors who are basically functioning as unpaid certified nursing assistants: grooming and toileting residents, turning and repositioning them, feeding them, stretching, and exercising them," said Tony Chicotel, a staff attorney at California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

Nearly 420,000 staffers have left nursing homes since February 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, worsening existing shortages.

When DuBrow learned of California’s new testing requirement for visitors, she arranged to get a PCR test at a testing site on Jan. 6, expecting results within 48 hours. Instead, she waited 104 hours before getting a response. (Her test was negative.) Eager to visit her mother, DuBrow called every CVS, Walgreens, and Target in a 25-mile radius of her home asking for a test but came up empty.

In a statement, the California Department of Public Health said the state had established 6,288 covid testing sites and sent millions of at-home tests to counties and local jurisdictions.

Photo: John Cameron/Unsplash

In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has pledged to deliver nearly 1 million covid tests to nursing homes, where visitors can take them on the spot, but that presents its own problems. "We don’t want to test visitors who are lining up at the door. We don’t have the clinical staff to do that, and we need to focus all our staff on the care of residents," said Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the New York State Health Facilities Association, an industry organization.

With current staff shortages, trying to ensure that visitors are wearing masks, physical distancing, and adhering to infection control practices is "taxing on the staff," said Janine Finck-Boyle, vice president of regulatory affairs at Leading Age, which represents not-for-profit long-term care providers.

"Really, the challenges are enormous," said Gaugler, of the University of Minnesota, "and I wish there were easy answers."


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ViewPoint | Navigating dementia during the holidays


Guest Commentary by Diane Rock

Holidays can be a wonderful time of year when families get together and catch up on each other’s busy lives. All too often is also the time that you may find that things aren’t quite the same with our aging family members.

Those twenty-minute calls once or twice a month made everything seem a okay with the parents or grandparents. But now, you have noticed the signs and symptoms of dementia are starting to show.

Beginning signs often overlooked by many families are now more noticeable. Their loved one may not be eating well - losing weight can often be one of the first signs - along with falls, forgetfulness and/or a noticeable change in their personal hygiene. That parent, grandparent or close friend feels like they are older, forgetting things here and there, but it doesn’t seem alarming.

In couples where the spouse is suffering from dementia, they may become more argumentative and suspicious. Due to their forgetfulness, they assume the other is being untruthful.

Spouses often try to hide the signs and symptoms of dementia from their partner. Truly needing help, but not wanting to feel vulnerable, they are afraid of not being in control of their life they have built together.

A few things to keep in mind when celebrating and wanting to include family or friends suffering from dementia during the holiday season:

Your loved on may not realize that it a holiday and may ask often "Where should I be?". By responding with a reassuring answer such: "We are right where we should be, Ted invited us for dinner." This can give comfort to someone with dementia.

When around friends and family that they no longer recognize, avoid asking, “don’t you remember So-and-So?” It can be very frustrating and make them feel very inadequate or add to their confusion. While they may respond with a yes, they may still not have any idea who the person is or their relationship to them.

Please remember that sometimes over stimulation, like continuous loud environments or sudden noises, can sometimes bring about agitation or confusion.

Everyone loves seeing the excitement of young children especially at the holidays. But a busy, fast-paced environment is sometimes too much for someone with this disease. They no longer can process these situations as they once did and an innocuous experience may cause a sudden negative mood swing.

Consumption of alcohol has a much different effect on someone with dementia, especially if they are taking prescription medication and should be avoided.

Overall, just be mindful that your loved one may not enjoy these experiences as they did prior to onset of dementia. In advanced stages, it is often better to just spend quiet moments together separate from large family groups.

Remember that people with dementia continue to need loving, safe relationships and a caring touch not only during the holiday season, but everyday.

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Diane Rock is the Community Resource Director at Amber Glen Alzheimer's Special Care Center located at 1704 E Amber Lane in Urbana. Learn more about Amber Glen and the memory care services they provide by visiting their website at www.amberglenalz.com.
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This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and viewpoints from readers who make up our diverse audience.


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