Viewpoint

Renewed Joy Sparked in Arkansas Long-Term Care Facilities

By Rachel Bunch, Executive Director, Arkansas Health Care Association

As we enter the holiday season, thoughts of family and a sense of home emerge. At Arkansas’ longterm care facilities, we focus on these qualities year-round. This year, however, the holidays bring a sense of renewed joy as we welcome friends, family and the community back into our facilities for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the nearly 300 long-term care facilities the Arkansas Health Care Association (AHCA) represents across the state, thousands of professional caregivers go to work every day dedicated to helping residents live lives of purpose and dignity, regardless of what their age or level of ability. Due to the average age and vulnerabilities of residents in long-term care, from the moment the pandemic began, AHCA-member facilities all over the state found themselves on the front lines of the battle. Our caregivers made daily sacrifices, working around the clock to protect and provide for this vulnerable population. From isolating themselves away from loved ones to help contain the spread, to achieving vaccination rates for staff and residents significantly over the national average, these workers constantly went above and beyond to protect residents in their care. While their actions didn’t always make headlines, long-term care heroes showed up every day to ensure the best quality of life for residents.

As the holidays approach, AHCA-member facilities are welcoming Santa Claus, carolers, volunteers, friends and family throughout the season. Those who don’t work in long-term care may not fully recognize the big deal this really is to our residents. These connections are priceless pieces of normalcy in long-term care facilities, creating a truly magical holiday season. Facilities across the state are planning special celebrations full of holiday cheer echoing through the halls.

The future of long-term care facilities is bright. With new certified medication technician programs and strategic partnerships throughout the state, we are working hard to increase the number of qualified, compassionate health care professionals. This enables us to continue to offer quality care to our residents in all corners of the state. For example, Arkansas Tech University in Ozark’s new MA-C program, created in partnership with the Methodist Village Senior Living in Fort Smith, recently graduated its first class of medication technicians. Upon completion of the program, graduates will have the skills and knowledge needed to dispense physician-prescribed medications to patients under the supervision of registered nurses, alleviating workforce concerns as staffing shortages continue across the country. AHCA and its partners will continue to seek creative solutions and make positive, lasting impacts on the future of long-term care in Arkansas.

We enter 2023 hopeful. Arkansas’s longterm care facilities are again able to offer normal, precious and heart-warming care to residents and their families. Through sharing the ups and downs of life, caregivers and residents become less like patients and staff and more like family. Now more than ever, we feel that sense of family as we welcome loved ones back through our doors this holiday season. —

Rachel Bunch has served as the executive director of the Arkansas Health Care Association for nearly nine years. Established in 1951, the AHCA is the state’s largest organization of long-term care providers, representing more than 90% of the licensed long-term care facilities in Arkansas.