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Heard this week (Visit Quotes page for more)

Biden administration officials said the new [nursing home minimum staffing] rule is necessary to limit cases of resident neglect or delays in care, a lingering issue that was exposed when more than 200,000 nursing home residents and staff died from COVID-19 in the first two years of the pandemic. A USA TODAY analysis found just 160 skilled nursing facilities out of about 14,500 would have met the new requirements every day last summer. (Emphasis added.)

Democratic lawmakers demand answers on nursing homes’ staffing, corporate spending, USA Today, May 6, 2024

“She wasn’t mobilized, she had nothing to cognitively engage her, she hadn’t eaten, and she became increasingly agitated, trying to get off the stretcher and arguing with staff. After a prolonged hospital stay, she left the hospital more disabled than she was when she came in.” . (Emphasis added.)

Maura Kennedy, Mass General’s chief of geriatric emergency medicine, describing an 80-something woman with a respiratory infection who languished in the ER for more than 24 hours after physicians decided she needed inpatient hospital care, Stranded in the ER, Seniors Await Hospital Care and Suffer Avoidable Harm, KFF Health News, May 6, 2024

Mission

Dignity Alliance Massachusetts is dedicated to transformative change to ensure the dignity of older adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers.  We are committed to advancing new ways of providing long-term services, support, living options, and care, while respecting choice and self-determination.  Through education, legislation, regulatory reform, and legal strategies, this mission will become reality throughout the Commonwealth.

As a grass-roots coalition of aging and disability service and advocacy organizations and supporters, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts works to secure fundamental changes.

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DignityMA Priorities and Key Topics

MANHR – a Program of DignityMA

Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Homes has essential information on nursing homes in MA.

Urgent Action Items

Visit the TAKE ACTION page for our current priorities.

In the News

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• The MA Senate released a report in response to COVID-19. Read more, including the DignityMA response, on the Policies page.
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• Learn to use and leverage Social Media at our workshops: Engaging Everyone: Creating Accessible, Powerful Social Media Content.