Medicine and Health

Decline in Veterans' Admissions to Nursing Homes during COVID-19: Fewer Beds, More Fear, and Finding Alternative Care Settings

P. Y. Cornell, K. H. Magid, et al.

Explore the significant decline in Veteran admissions to community nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, as revealed by research conducted by Portia Y Cornell and colleagues. This study uncovers a concerning 35% drop in admissions, driven by infection policies and shifts toward home-based care, prompting important questions about the well-being of Veterans.

00:00

Playback language: English

Index

Abstract

This study examined the decline in admissions to community nursing homes among Veterans following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using VA purchasing records and semistructured interviews with VA staff, the study found a 35% decrease in Veteran admissions to community nursing homes between April and December 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Nationally, total nursing home admissions decreased by 19.6%. Three contributing factors emerged from staff interviews: fewer available nursing home beds due to infection prevention policies; decreased admissions due to fear of COVID-19 exposure; and Veterans choosing home-based care over nursing homes. The study concludes that this decline raises concerns about the health outcomes and well-being of Veterans and their caregivers when nursing home care is replaced with home- and community-based care.

Publisher

JAMDA

Published On

Jan 01, 2023

Authors

Portia Y Cornell, Kate H Magid, Emily Corneau, Leah M Haverhals, Cari Levy, Jonathan H Harwood Jr

Related Publications

Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.

Psychology

Emotional adaptation during a crisis: decline in anxiety and depression after the initial weeks of COVID-19 in the United States

A. Shuster, M. O'brien, et al.

Medicine and Health

Challenges Faced by Pregnant Women and Postnatal Mothers in Seeking MCH Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Odisha, India

R. M. R. C. Bhubaneswar, I. M. R. Centre, et al.

Medicine and Health

Resilience outcomes and associated factors among workers in community-based HIV care centres during the Covid-19 pandemic: A multi-country analysis from the EPIC program

M. D. Ciaccio, N. Lorente, et al.

Political Science

Stigma and fear during COVID-19: essentializing religion in an Indian context

D. Biswas, S. Chatterjee, et al.

Listen, Learn & Level Up

Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.

No more digging through PDFs, just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.

listen to research audio papers with researchbunny