News Archive
Hall Center Hosts Conversation on Older Adults and Aging
03/03/2021
After the COVID-19 pandemic devastated nursing homes throughout the United States, the long-term care industry is ripe for disruption.
Speakers at the 2021 Health Law Conference: Older Adults and Aging with Dignity, sponsored by IU McKinney’s Hall Center for Law and Health, touched on many of the legal and policy issues contributing to the challenges ahead at the February 26 virtual event.
Tara Sklar, Professor of Health Law and Director of the Health Law and Policy Program at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, presented the keynote address, “Where Do We Go from Here? Long-Term Care After COVID-19.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected residents and staff in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Sklar cited Kaiser Family Foundation findings that, nationwide, deaths in long-term care facilities account for 40% of all COVID-19 deaths. In 18 states, COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities account for at least half of all deaths due to the pandemic.
Sklar outlined some fixes: establish trust, develop staff and provide technology that could increase connections, efficiency and optimize health. But the conversation should also include a health-justice framework, she said.
The long-term care workforce is predominantly female and low wage. Nearly four in 10 are age 50-plus and nearly 1 in 4 are black; more than one in five nursing home aides work in more than one long-term care facility, which was one of the conditions that led to COVID-19 outbreaks, Sklar noted.
She called out Indiana, too, which ranks 48th in the nation for long-term care staffing, and unpaid caregivers, including family members, who often shoulder the responsibility for elder care.
“We need a national strategy that cares for the caregivers,” she said.
A panel discussion on “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Aging Well” follows the keynote address. Panelists included:
- Amber R. Comer, ’11, PhD, JD, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences, Indiana University School of Health and Human Sciences, who spoke on surrogate medical decision-making during COVID-19.
- Colin Milner, CEO, International Council on Active Aging, who offered a perspective on aging as “navigating the new normal.”
- Dana Reed Wise, MPH, REHS, Bureau Chief, Bureau of Environmental Health, Marion County Public Health Department, discussed the benefits and challenges of managing the agency’s experienced and seasoned employees.
- Phyllis Barkman Ferrell, Global Head External Engagement for Alzheimer’s disease, Eli Lilly & Company, who discussed science and the aging brain as well as the unmet need for timely diagnosis for the 110 million individuals and families impacted by the disease.
