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Long-Term Care ConsumersFamily MembersAdvocatesCOVID-19
See More Resident Perspectives on Staffing
The COVID-19 pandemic and limitations on visitation have resulted in tens of thousands of residents suffering and dying from isolation, loneliness, and poor care. Listen to residents of long-term care facilities talk about their experiences.
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COVID-19 Stories
Nursing home residents need to be allowed an “Essential Support Person” during times of crisis - A story by Rev. Judy Young about her experiences with her mother, Charlotte Smith Bode, in a nursing facility during COVID-19 and her advocacy for an Essential Support Person.
Not just COVID: Nursing home neglect deaths surge in shadows - Associated Press, November 19, 2020
"Many individuals in long term care facilities have little or no family or visitors to speak of. I had a tablet that opened up the entire world to me and I am constantly amazed at what I read and learn on a daily basis." - Judith Mangum, nursing home resident
"What do you think it will take to bring about good quality care in nursing homes and other facilities? My answer: make sure the caregivers are trained." - Story by Jane O., family member of resident
Important Enough to Notice - Poem by Elaine Roberts Musser, attorney to families of nursing home residents
Important Enough to Notice
As I lie here alone, needing skilled care
Unable to walk or run as I once did
Sadly in some disarray is my hair
Away from the bustling world I am hid.
I look forward to visits from my dear son
Who, whenever he can, comes to visit
But today I wait in vain, there is no one
To brighten my morning, as here I sit.
Until the nursing staff enter my door
With a welcoming smile and pleasant word
My dark thoughts turn cheerful, and made to soar
At a kind touch and caring phrase heard.
They are my connection to life itself
Without them I would just wither away
I am made to feel not placed on a shelf
But important enough to notice this day.
Their quiet competence is reassuring
I know that I am surely in good hands
So my last years on this earth have meaning
As out of time, steadily run the sands.