LeadingAge attended the Long-Term Care Leadership Summit 3.0 at the White House on July 18 along with representatives from the office of the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), American Health Care Association (AHCA), Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA), Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA), American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP), Association of Jewish Aging Services (AJAS), and AARP.

The focus of the Summit was respiratory virus vaccines and preparation for the 2024/2025 respiratory virus season. Major General (ret.) Dr. Paul Friedrichs convened the meeting with Stacy Sanders, Counselor to the HHS Secretary, to recognize and reflect on vaccine best practices and experiences.

Nursing home providers Homestead Hills from North Carolina, Episcopal Church Home of the Gardens from Minnesota, and Hudsonview Health Care Center from New Jersey were invited by the Administration to discuss strategies for vaccine acceptance. Each nursing home provider gave an overview of their vaccine strategy and process during the pandemic and current thoughts going into the respiratory season.  Themes of trust, communication, education, and transparency were thread through each presentation, with specific examples of leadership being champions and establishing collaborations with the community at large.  Each organization spoke of listening to their residents, staff and families and adapting to the individual needs as they changed.

The second part of the summit outlined the preparations for the 2024-2025 respiratory season. The Assistant Secretary of HHS, Jeff Nesbit, unveiled the HHS vaccine campaign, Risk Less, Do More, which will be live in the Fall.  This campaign is for RSV, Flu and Covid vaccinations and is informed by research. The main components are using education and motivation to increase vaccination rates. The campaign will include print and digital resources, media and social media ads, and limited pop-up clinics.

CDC discussed additional work to address vaccination barriers including streamlining vaccine recommendations, improving vaccine information sheets, and working with vaccine manufacturers and CMS to address access issues. LeadingAge will continue to work with these partners as we prepare for respiratory virus season.