EP #246 - 03.25.2021 - The COVID Crisis in Elder Care

Today is a discussion of THE COVID CRISIS IN ELDER CARE with Lori Smetanka and Jasmine Travers.

Lori Smetanka is the Executive Director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, the leading national nonprofit advocacy organization representing consumers receiving long-term care and services in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home and community based settings. Lori has testified before Congress and served on federal task forces, technical expert panels, and working groups on long-term care issues.

From 2004 – 2016 she served as the Director of the National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center, providing technical assistance, training, and support to the 53 State and more than 570 local long-term care ombudsman programs across the country. She received a B.A. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law.

Dr. Jasmine Travers is an Assistant Professor at New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Her career is dedicated to designing and conducting research to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities in vulnerable older adult groups using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. As a health services researcher, she has leveraged many datasets to investigate these issues and has published widely on the topics of aging, long-term care, health disparities, workforce issues, and infections. Prior to joining the faculty at NYU, Dr. Travers completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Clinician Scholars Program at Yale University and a T32 funded postdoctoral fellowship at the New Courtland Center for Transitions and Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She completed her doctoral training in health services research with a specialization in gerontology at Columbia University School of Nursing.