Many Seniors Shunned In-Home Care During Pandemic, Worsening Health

By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on older Americans.

A new study finds that many older adults declined medically necessary in-home care during the height of the pandemic in 2020 for fear of contracting the coronavirus, but doing so may have led to new or worsening health conditions.

Home-based health care providers said they felt they lacked sufficient information and training to advise patients about whether to continue care.

"One home health care agency representative said their agency's patient load decreased by 38% as a result of patients canceling services," said study first author Jennifer Inloes, a doctoral student in nursing practice at the University of Michigan School of Nursing.

"It really highlighted the level of fear among patients receiving home-based health care services at the early part of the pandemic," she said in a school news release.

Inloes said the large number of cancellations surprised her.