The coronavirus pandemic tragically continues to claim the health and lives of our nursing home elders. As upsetting as that is, and without minimizing the pain and suffering our elders and their families are experiencing, we must also keep in mind that elders and caregivers, together, are part of a remarkable team, inextricably bonded together in a symbiotic relationship. One team.
The media understandably shines a bright light on the immense risk that coronavirus poses for our elders, frequently referring to nursing homes as “ground zero” or “epicenter” for the virus. Unfortunately, the majority of mainstream media is slow to shine more than a subdued light on our caregivers, and by doing so convey a shallow understanding of caregiver commitment to elders in their home away from home. One team.
Both deserve explicit recognition, respect and admiration for their mutual courage and professionalism.
One team.
Imagine the anxiety our elders — and their families — must feel regarding well-being, compounded by the inability to be with each other as all nursing homes, nationwide, prohibit entrance to nonessential visitors, including families. Our elders live with the reality that at any moment the coronavirus could spread throughout their nursing homes like an Australian bush wildfire. One team.
Please consider for a moment a similar anxiety our caregivers feel about their elders’ well-being, and also about their own children whose schools have closed, of lost wages when both paid and unpaid time off is exhausted, of succumbing themselves to the coronavirus and endangering their aged parents. One team.
Elders and caregivers also share another major concern — staff shortages. Before the coronavirus, there were significant shortages of caregivers. This situation is now exasperated when colleagues remain home to care for family, are quarantined, become ill or die. One team.
Infectious disease experts warn that we must maintain social distance. Unfortunately, there is silence with regard to elders and caregivers who live together in nursing homes. Social distancing is unrealistic when our elders’ quality of life depends upon community and activities provided by their caregivers. One team.
Elders and caregivers are also acutely aware that caregivers are more likely to transmit than receive. An inherent conflict exists. While it is safest for elders to avoid contact, it is also healthiest for them to intimately interact with their caregivers. One team.
Yes. Nursing homes are “ground zero” and “epicenters” for coronavirus. For both Elders and Caregivers. One team.
David Barmak, J.D., is CEO of Med-Net Compliance LLC in West Windsor, NJ.
