Advocacy

Cases of COVID rose among Mississippi nursing home residents and staff over the four weeks ending July 18, according to the latest release of AARP’s Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard.

Clifford Acey is a Communications Intern at AARP Mississippi

The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating effect in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, causing the deaths of more than 84,000 residents and staff, according to an Oct. 8 analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation—including 991 in Mississippi. Yet federal policymakers have been slow to respond to this crisis, and no state has done a good enough job to stem the loss of life. AARP has called for the enactment of a 5-point plan to protect nursing home and long-term care facility residents, and has fought for public reporting of nursing home COVID-19 cases and deaths.

AARP Mississippi worked on and supported several bills that were passed during the 2020 Mississippi Legislative session on behalf of the state’s 50-plus population.

As COVID-19 restrictions have eased in Mississippi, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities eventually will prepare to resume in-person visits for families. While this may happen in the future, now is the time to prepare. Experts say in-person visits will be different than before the pandemic, at least until the threat of coronavirus has passed. There may be limits on when, where and for how long you can see loved ones, and distancing rules will likely be in place.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the Mississippi Legislature to pause the 2020 session. However, AARP Mississippi continued its advocacy work virtually by activating volunteers to call their legislators about issues that are important to people age 50 and over. As COVID-19 cases in Mississippi began to increase, it became apparent that the disease was significantly affecting long-term care facilities.

Are you caring for a parent, spouse, other loved one or friend? Many of us are doing the best we can to balance work, family and caregiving without even realizing that we are indeed, caregivers. Caregiving is even more challenging now during the COVID-19 pandemic. AARP Mississippi will present a webinar, Prepare To Care – Creating A Plan, at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. The webinar offers information and tactics for family caregivers. To register, click here.

This week, AARP Mississippi met virtually with federal lawmakers to urge more help for older Americans and their families as they face growing health and economic challenges due to the coronavirus crisis. Residents in nursing homes, those who are food-insecure, and people who have lost their jobs are particularly in need.

The Legislature starts its 2020 session on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and AARP Mississippi is preparing a campaign to advocate for residents 50 and older.

AARP Mississippi released the following statement today, applauding U. S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson for voting to pass H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.