Seniors Returning to Community Face “Potentially Preventable” Hospital Admissions

Statistics for years have been nearly unanimous. As many as 90 percent of seniors typically say they want to age at home. But illness and the effects of aging could jeopardize that goal. A recent study has found that older adults eligible for Medicaid and Medicare who were moved into community care from nursing homes had a 40 percent greater risk of “potentially preventable” hospitalizations.

Lack of training are among reasons why care in home and community settings is not as effective in preventing hospitalizations, said Andrea Wysocki, a postdoctoral scholar in the Brown University School of Public Health and lead author of the study.

Wysocki said her finding of a higher potentially preventable hospitalization risk for seniors who transitioned to community- or home-based care suggests that some medical needs are not as well addressed in community settings as they are in nursing homes. More vigilant and effective treatment for chronic, already-diagnosed ailments such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease could prevent some of the hospitalizations that occur.

What many don’t realize is that home care may provide the kind of support that could help keep seniors out of the hospital. In a pilot of 30 patients returning home from the hospital, one Home Instead Senior Care^® office found that 96 percent stayed out of the hospital longer than 30 days with daily assistance at home in such tasks as medication education and reminders, assistance in monitoring and tracking health reports, and follow-up doctor’s appointments.

For additional details about the study, visit http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2014/01/hospitals. And to learn more about ways to keep seniors out of the hospital, go to ReturningHome.com.