[ad_1]
The inability to protect nursing home residents is now sadly familiar with the pandemic in America – particularly in the Empire State, where Governor Andrew Cuomo’s severe March order forcing homes to accept COVID patients – positive results in the deaths of at least 6,000 New Yorkers (the actual number could be double).
Nationwide, these residents account for 40 percent of deaths, although they represent less than 1 percent of the population. Yet the new coronavirus has proven to be deadly for our seniors in another, perhaps more insidious and invisible way. According to barely-noticed reports from The Associated Press, outright neglect has killed an additional 40,000 residents.
Take the case of Donald Wallace. The 75-year-old retired trucker survived COVID-19, according to the AP, but neglect led him to become so malnourished and dehydrated that he fell to 98 pounds, suffered septic shock and probably choked on his own food. “They stopped taking care of him,” her son Kevin said of the Alabama facility that “looked after” Wallace (the facility denied neglect).
There are reports from across the country, including New York City, of diapers left on for so long that the skin peels off when they are removed. Bedridden residents who haven’t been returned for so long, you could see their bones through their wounds. Often, deep isolation leads to deaths that certificates simply describe as “stunted.”
A big problem is the ubiquity of nursing homes owned by companies that are chronically understaffed and whose employees pay less than a living wage. Rather than adequately supporting the institutions they own, investigators say, these companies are more interested in passing cost savings in the form of profits to their shareholders.
America is truly a barbaric outlier in this regard, as immigrants would tell you, especially those from cultures where sibling standards still reign.
Practices hid in plain sight before, but the pandemic has forced Americans to consider how we treat our parents in the twilight of their lives. An informed choice awaits us. We can continue to embrace a throwaway culture that rejects the most vulnerable among us, or we can begin to mobilize to protect and honor our elders. It is important that this choice in eldercare comes in the midst of a massive political realignment. For all his faults, President Trump and his populist uprising have at least somewhat loosened the grip on the GOP from small-government fanatics and corporatists. Democrats increasingly represent the interests of American business, of the management class. This is a golden opportunity for Republicans to defend a pro-family, pro-worker vision – to insist that profits and growth are not the highest level per se.
The reform of our care facilities for the elderly must be one of the priorities of this new GOP.
It will take time. We must resist a cultural aversion to assisted suicide, a grim choice increasingly accessible to underserved seniors. In addition, policy makers need to strengthen family control and support nonprofit homes such as those run by religious groups.
Republicans should also work with Democrats and others to find ways to support families who want to care for their beloved seniors at home. I have been encouraged to work with pro-life and religious groups that support Democratic Senator Bob Casey, Jr.’s plan to have Medicaid (or a similar source) reimburse loved ones for this home care.
The price is not cheap, but since it is still much cheaper than residential care, it makes a lot of sense from a budget perspective. Plus, this plan would help keep extended, multigenerational families together so that everyone is good. And that would disproportionately benefit communities of color, which have suffered from disproportionate care of the elderly, especially during the pandemic.
Washington needs an appropriation bill by Dec. 11 to avoid another shutdown. A COVID-19 recovery plan will be part of these negotiations. Funding for home care for the elderly should be included in any package that goes through both chambers.
So here is the first test of whether Republicans will put the working class, racial minorities, economic populism, and families ahead of corporate interests. We watch carefully. The lives of our beloved old people are at stake.
Charles Camosy is Associate Professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Fordham University and author of the new book “Resisting Throwaway Culture”. Twitter: @CCamosy
[ad_2]
Source link