Remember the days when window visits were in vogue? Where no one really knew who you were behind your mask? When we had to stay six feet away from other people—and God forbid, don’t touch them! Whew, what a journey that was, one none of us ever want to live through again. But one lesson worth revisiting is what happened after lifting federal visitation restrictions in senior living communities.
To be fair, no one knew exactly how to respond when COVID-19 first emerged. So, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made the cautious decision to restrict visitors from entering nursing homes. It made sense at the time, given the unknowns—but did it help?
Not shocking to those of us who lived it, a recent study published in the NIH’s PubMed database found that nursing home infection rates closely mirrored the trend in community COVID-19 infections. In fact, there was no statistical increase in infection rates associated with the lifting of the federal restrictions on September 17, 2020. Researchers concluded that moving forward, visitation restrictions should be reserved for only the most extreme circumstances.
Hindsight really is 20/20. When we think back on the isolation, the confusion, and the overall decline so many residents experienced during the height of the pandemic, it’s clear these restrictions came at a cost. Thankfully, research like this backs up what so many of us felt in our gut—that cutting residents off from their loved ones wasn’t the right call in the long run.
There will likely be another pandemic. Maybe not next year, maybe not in our lifetime—but eventually, yes. Studies like this one on COVID-19 infections and visitation policies will give policymakers the data they need to pause, breathe, and really think about what actions will help—not harm—those we’re trying to protect. Because lifting federal visitation restrictions didn’t lead to a spike in cases, future decisions can be grounded in both compassion and evidence. Doing the right thing only works when we do it for all the right reasons.
Stay well and stay informed!
