Report Details Virus Impact on State Office of the Public Guardian
The Office of the Public Guardian released its 2020 annual report earlier this month, highlighting the many ways that Nebraska’s vulnerable populations were impacted by COVID-19.
The office served 310 wards in the reporting period between November 2019 and October 2020. More than three-fourths of those people had a mental health diagnosis, including 184 wards with cognitive impairment and 83 with a developmental disability.
The majority of wards of the Office of the Public Guardian reside in nursing homes and assisted living situations, with many others in group homes or shared living facilities. Those have been among the people hardest hit by COVID-19, with a 30% positivity rate among wards in Nebraska nursing homes and 27% in assisted living facilities.
Fifty-eight wards have tested positive and three have died, according to the report.
A perspective from an associate public guardian in rural Nebraska was highlighted in the report. As many of the clients that public guardians work with are elderly or living with a disability, the guardian said they had to begin making plans in the event that they or one of their clients tested positive for COVID-19. “I also had end-of-life discussions with each client to determine if they wanted to be placed on a ventilator or not,” the associate public guardian said. “This is a difficult conversation to have, especially with individuals who are incapacitated. It was difficult at that time to explain the ‘what ifs’ with the individuals when I, myself, did not quite understand the ‘what ifs.’”
The guardian went on to have three clients test positive. Two made a full recovery, but one died just nine days after the diagnosis.
“This death was the most difficult because I was unable to be with him, and he was alone when he passed,” the associate public guardian said. “My belief is that nobody should be alone when they die, but COVID-19 kept me from being there, and I am not sure I will ever be able to get over that guilt.”
Along with medical complications, wards and guardians alike have struggled with the distancing restrictions placed on many residential care facilities. The pandemic has upended the routine that many wards are accustomed to, and it has completely isolated them from their guardian and other social connections.
“I am constantly fielding calls from my wards who are desperate for human connection,” an Omaha-based associate public guardian said in the annual report. “They call me to tell me they cannot live like this anymore, and that they just want to die. I cannot see them in person or do anything to make it better.”
Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, the Nebraska Office of the Public Guardian provided education to 1,435 new private guardians during the reporting period.
More than 900 individuals became a guardian or conservator for an adult or minor, with 97% of them serving as volunteers.
Find a copy of the report at omahadailyrecord.com.
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