The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) have released a report with data showing some positive points about the quality of care in nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The organizations say the data provides evidence of the efforts made to raise the standard of care for the benefit of nursing home residents during the public health crisis.
The three key findings were:
- Long-stay residents in nursing homes faced 15% fewer hospitalizations during the pandemic;
- Short-stay patients saw an 8% functional improvement during Covid;
- More than 110,000 inspections focused on infection control failed to find deficiencies 72% of the time.
The report acknowledges that the pandemic had a devastating toll on nursing home residents, but explains that the tragic loss of life was due to the nature of the virus and not because of inadequate care from caregivers. The report says that vaccines and treatments as well as enhanced infection control measures helped make nursing home residents much safer from the virus.
The report found that:
- Nearly 60% of nursing home resident deaths due to COVID occurred during the first seven months of the pandemic, before vaccines were available;
- Covid uniquely targets the elderly population and those with underlying conditions, with the risk of mortality for those 85 years and older being 340 times higher than those 18 to 29;
- Independent research from various respected academic institutions frequently found that high spread in the community is correlated with outbreaks in nursing homes;
- At the height of the Omicron surge in mid-January, nursing home residents were four times less likely to succumb to the virus compared to the height of the winter surge in 2020, before the availability of vaccines;
- More than 730,000 nursing home residents have recovered from Covid.
Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL, said, “Nursing homes should be recognized for their efforts during this once-in-a-lifetime global crisis, and as we continue to focus on improving the quality of life for our residents, lawmakers and health policy officials must also work with us to implement lasting change by providing resources necessary to further enhance care.”
