New Texas Energy Package Could Help Older Adults in Long-Term Care Facilities During Extreme Weather

According to new research, long-term nursing home residents face significantly higher death rates when their facilities lose power or water during storms, compared with residents in facilities that remain fully operational. Texas recently approved funding to support backup power for critical facilities. In The Daily Yonder, Dr. Brian Downer and PhD student Alex Holland discuss what this investment could mean for nursing homes. Their peer‑reviewed study, Winter Storm Uri, Mortality, and Health Care Use of Nursing Home Residents, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that utility failures were the primary factor behind the increased mortality.