<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1596208023148.jpeg" alt="Linda Mason, left, has frequently advocated on her mother’s behalf after encountering issues in nursing facilities. (Submitted)" />
 <figcaption>Linda Mason, left, has frequently advocated on her mother’s behalf after encountering issues in nursing facilities. (Submitted)</figcaption>
 </figure>By MITZI E. MCFATRICH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/07/30/kansans-in-care-facilities-have-a-right-to-visitors-its-time-to-give-them-a-voice/">Kansas Advocates for Better Care</a>We see the images — older 
adults in beds and wheelchairs, separated by windows from family members
 holding signs with messages of encouragement and love. We share the 
sadness of countless elders dying alone without the comfort of family, 
denied essential human contact and human rights at a time when these 
matter the most.In March, the federal 
Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services blocked visitation to 
residents of nursing facilities except “for certain compassionate care 
situations” at the “end of life.” Kansas followed suit for other adult 
care facilities. Sadly, many facilities misinterpreted this to mean only at the very end after a person had slipped into non-responsiveness; other facilities simply didn’t allow family in at all.Unlike the rest of us, 
adults in nursing homes have no say in how or when they will see family 
and friends or gather for a meal. Their legal rights, while not formally
 suspended, are suspended in practice by the policies and 
decision-making protocols issued by government agencies managing the 
pandemic.For 45 years, <a href="https://www.kabc.org/">Kansas Advocates for Better Care</a>
 has been helping elders and families advocate for their rights, find 
better care, and stop abuse in long-term care. Each year we respond to 
thousands of people who need help, training and resources.There is understandable 
fear about opening up. Older adults with chronic conditions living in 
close quarters are at higher risk and feel the impacts more harshly. But
 there is injury too from continuous isolation. Falls and confusion, 
weight loss, depression and anxiety all have risen with isolation.In hindsight, we see what 
older residents and families have long known: Visits literally save 
lives. Not only do friends and family offer elders the social connection
 and emotional support we all need, they serve as essential monitors of 
care.There is not always agreement about the way forward.Emma, who has lived in a 
Kansas care facility for five years, was not even able to visit with 
friends who lived in the same facility. Depressed after months-long 
isolation with no end to restrictions in sight and no say in facility 
policies, she left to stay with family in a nearby state.Kathy, meanwhile, is 
grateful for the maximum restrictions in her husband’s nursing home. 
Alarmed by COVID-19’s upward surge, she supports the restrictions, 
believing it is more important than ever to protect vulnerable&nbsp;elders.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1596208090048.jpeg" alt="A woman named Brenda, who has engaged with Kansas Advocates for Better Care, submitted this photo of her mother." />
 <figcaption>A woman named Brenda, who has engaged with Kansas Advocates for Better Care, submitted this photo of her mother.</figcaption>
 </figure>So we must 
wrestle with competing imperatives of well-being. Older adults bearing 
the brunt of COVID-19 in nursing homes have legal and civil rights, yet 
current government guidance leaves decision-making to local health 
departments and facilities, with no requirement to seek input from the 
adults who reside within.Safe visitation during 
COVID-19 is a complex but not unsolvable puzzle. Some of the basics are:
 adequate staff to provide care and assist elders in visiting with loved
 ones by phone, video, in a designated indoor room or outdoors; clear 
protocols for infection control; education, screening and logging of 
visitors just as is done with staff and elders; use of masks and 
appropriate protective equipment; disinfecting surfaces between visits.Prior to the pandemic, few
 facilities operated at safe staffing levels of just over four hours of 
daily care for each resident, and inspectors found that 77% of Kansas 
facilities were not complying with standard infection control practices.
 The COVID-19 crisis underscores how understaffing dangerously increases
 the workload for nurse aides.We are all living in ways 
unthinkable prior to this pandemic. But we are not living without choice
 or voice, nor should adults in long-term care facilities be asked to do
 so.By law, every facility has
 a resident council. These resident councils could be surveyed for their
 input. Kansas Advocates for Better Care has asked the Kansas Department
 of Aging and Disability Services to direct local health departments and
 individual facilities to seek the input of residents (or, for those 
without capacity, their legal representative).We have also requested 
that when state agencies are meeting with hospital and facility 
providers to define policies, resident voices be present through 
consumer legal or resident advocates such as the <a href="https://ombudsman.ks.gov/about-us/about-our-program">Kansas Long-Term Care Ombudsman</a>.It is time to recognize 
and restore residents’ right to essential visitors. As Kansas defines 
its path to reopening, government must engage with elders and learn what
 they believe are reasonable steps to address their well-being and 
safety.Mitzi E. McFatrich is the executive director of <a href="https://www.kabc.org/">Kansas Advocates for Better Care</a>.

OPINION: Kansans in care facilities have a right to visitors