Long-Term Care: What You Need to Know

Dear Reader,

 I am an MS patient and a Baby Boomer with more than sixty years of experience in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities.  By 2012, I moved to Assisted Living, then transitioned to Long-term Care.  Even though MS has caused physical disabilities, I am lucky to have my cognition.  I retired at age 66 from Frostburg State University as a Professor Emerita dedicated to advocating for better nursing home care.  I wrote a book called FYI, Dangers Lurking in Long-Term Care A Guide, and it is large print, less than 90 pages, selling for $4.50 at Amazon.com, Kindle for $4.  The book summarizes many of the important points and issues addressed within the blog post.  These posts are long and detailed because I wanted to educate and inform everyone about what might happen in a medical crisis.   

Be aware that a loved one placed in long-term care will likely encounter a loss of privacy, disregard of modesty, paternalistic attitudes, abusive language and neglect of personal care.  There is a national problem with the lack of staff and aides who are not properly trained.  A complete summary of these problems now appears in the book, Ten Year War, written by Mr. Johnathan Cohn.  In his research he learned that health care is a real mess.  The worst exists in long-term care.  He says that it's hard to figure out who pays what bill.  You're constantly dealing with the networks.  You think your insurance covers something, and then you discover that it doesn't.  You have to get on the phone and fight.  And the amount of time you spend on the phone is actually time you want to spend with your loved one.  Mr. Cohn experienced this first hand.  While finishing his book, his mother got COVID and died in a nursing home.

Seventy percent of nursing homes are currently owned by private equities.  More than 1.5 million seniors over the age of 65 currently live in these nursing homes.  These facilities are lucky if they have a medical director for two hours a week or a gerontologist.  Physicians in the local community care for residents in nursing homes with monthly room visits that may not even last one minute.  Frequently, in-house nursing staff must relay additional medical information via phone or fax that causes problems with prolonged response times, inaccurate exchange of medical information, and misdiagnosis.  In short, care for the aging population is minimal at best.

By March, 2022, with more than 500,000 lives lost in long-term care during the pandemic, The White House announced it would implement a variety of nursing home reforms, including the creation of a minimum staffing standards in nursing homes, accountability for poor performing nursing homes, increased transparency around ownership and finances, and support for direct care staff.  These critical reforms will address many of the long-standing problems that have plagued nursing homes for decades.  Nursing Reform: Post COVID-19 and the Accountability Act can be found under the tab Nursing Reform.

For information about the “real mess,” click on any blog post to the left for personal stories, heartbreaking testimonials, medical research, and guidance to protect loved ones.

Do not hesitate to contact me at any time for questions.  My email address appears at the top of each blog post.  Also feel free to use any of the information from this site to help yourself or a loved one.

Tyra Phipps

September, 2023