Why Is There a Gap?
It all comes down to resources, having enough reimbursement, staffing ratios.
Nursing home care in the U.S. is a two-tiered system with the lower tier consisting of mainly Medicaid residents.
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15% of non-hospital-based nursing homes that serve predominantly Medicaid residents have fewer nursing staff and lower occupancy rates.
Research shows that lower staffing levels are linked to worse health outcomes.
Throughout the pandemic, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color.
Its really about location and whether or not youre in a virus hotspot.
Mir says that staff has largely been the source of outbreaks within nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
Occupational health and infection control practices need serious oversight, Mir says.
Collecting Data
Data collection during the pandemic has been a significant challenge.
There have been challenges in getting accurate reports from nursing homes in many states, Mir says.
Recently, New York has been under fire for potentially underreporting deaths in nursing homes within the state.
The pandemic has given rise to challenges in maintaining long-term care facilities.
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APM Research Lab.The color of coronavirus: COVID-19 deaths by race and ethnicity in the U.S.
