News

(Scroll down to read DignityMA testimony for this proposal.) The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has issued proposed amendments to regulations for long term care facilities and other providers aligning the flu and COVID-19 vaccine requirements for personnel, eliminating the mandate that all personnel be vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine. Under ...

Report of the DignityMA Legislative Work Group 7/31/2023 Download the FY 2024 DignityMA Supported Budget Items (pdf). The following items, under consideration by the Conference Committee, were all approved in the final budget that is being presented to the House and Senate today. 28 Dignity Advocates "took action" by contacting ...

To: Anne Klibanski, MD, President and CEO, Mass General Brigham Dear Dr. Klibanski, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts is a statewide, non-profit coalition of individuals and organizations advocating for older adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers. By way of introduction to Dignity Alliance, we have attached a copy of our most ...

Media Release Calls for Executive Action and Legislation to promote cooling for older adults and people with disabilities As another heat wave with temperatures in the nineties begins this week, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts is calling on state government to protect older adults and people with disabilities from the dangers of ...

On July 26, 2023, the 33rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disability Act, Dignity Alliance MA submitted written testimony to a public meeting of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight in support of access to public meetings by older adults and people with disabilities ...

Editor’s note: This is a provocative essay. It includes a reference to the Worcester (MA) Recovery Center, a facility for 320 long-term patients with private rooms and “a recovery-inspired residential design” which opened in 2012. If you have observations or comments regarding the essay which you would like to share, ...

Opinion by Richard T. Moore, former Massachusetts State Senator and Chair Dignity Alliance Massachusetts Legislative Workgroup, July 17, 2023
FYI:  Dignity Digest 145 contains the footnotes for this article.

In the Pacific Northwest, “As records toppled, lives were lost. Early investigations suggest that nearly one thousand people died as a direct result ...

The U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) is seeking input on proposed updates to the regulations for its Older Americans Act (OAA) programs. The proposed rule is the first substantial update to most OAA program regulations in 35 years. Scroll Down to read comments or download Dignity Alliance MA submitted ...

Read More about Older American Act changes

With the Word ‘May’, ACIP Leaves Seniors Vulnerable to RSV This Winter July 5, 2023, By Richard Hughes IV and Spreeha Choudhury Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a dangerous disease for vulnerable and older adults. Last winter, RSV spiked significantly and continues to cause between 60,000-160,000 hospitalizations and 6,000-10,000 deaths ...

Dignity Alliance MA has released a statement on "What's Needed for Transformational Nursing Home Reform to Improve Quality and Oversight" as well as a letter to the Chairs of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. You can download (the statement download contains significant footnotes not included below) these or ...

June 19, 2023 Dignity Alliance MA supports increasing the payment for PCA's to at least $25 per hour. 45 individuals and organizations have endorsed the following letter to Governor Healey, asking her to implement this increase immediately. Letter to Governor Healey Dear Governor Healey, On behalf of the membership of ...

Study Session with State Director of Rural Affairs Anne Gobi Thursday, June 29, 2023, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Director of Rural Affairs Anne Gobi will be the featured guest for a DignityMA Study Session scheduled for Thursday, June 29, 2023, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Former State Senator Anne ...

Join the DignityMA Resolution for Sufficient Nursing Home Staffing Thursday, June 15, 2023 marks the annual observance of WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY,which was launched more than a decade ago by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations.  Dignity ...

Explore the crucial role of advocating for older adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers with state and federal legislators. Dignity Alliance Massachusetts offers actionable advice and strategies for individuals to effectively engage with policymakers and drive positive changes. Effecting real change at the state and federal levels often means ...

Scandal in Plain Sight – Virginia’s Failed Regulation of Law-Avoiding Nursing Home Owners Bacon’s Rebellion
June 10, 2023
by James C. Sherlock Scandal in Plain Sight - Virginia's Failed Regulation of Law-Avoiding Nursing Home Owners One of the most important and heart-wrenching decisions families make for their elderly loved ones is whether ...

Why Is This Happening? (Podcast and transcript)
May 31, 2023 Every day in the United States, 10,000 people turn 65, according to the UN Population Division. We are about to have the largest older population ever. At the same time, nearly 4 million babies are born every year, leaving many Americans ...

A Woman of Valor: Arlene Germain Disability Issues, Spring 2023 Vol.43 No. 2 By Sandy Alissa Novak I recently had the privilege of interviewing Arlene Germain, co-founder of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts. The following interview has been edited to fit in Disability Issues. Sandy Novack: Arlene, please tell us your first ...

The following two letters were sent to Health System Leaders in Massachusetts, on the occasion of suspending masking requirements and covid protections in health care settings. Download the two letters, or read below from May 10, 2023

• DignityMA Open Letter on Masking, Patient Safety, and Trust (pdf)
• DignityMA Letter ...
  
  Read More about Masking and Patient Safety

Senate Special Committee on Aging Report: Nursing Home Survey Agencies are Severely Understaffed As reported by The Consumer Voice, May 19, 2023

Today, the Senate Special Committee on Aging, led by Chairman Bob Casey, released a new report, “Uninspected and Neglected: Nursing Home Agencies are Severely Understaffed, Putting Residents at Risk.” ...

CMS eager to leverage new nursing home ownership data, leader confirms McKnight’s Long Term Care, April 26, 2023 By Kimberly Marselas A top Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services enforcement official said Tuesday that the agency is eager to use data collected under a proposed ownership transparency rule to “scrutinize ...