DETROIT – Many older adults – including those living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) – rely on a variety of long-term care sources, including family care provided at home or paid care provided in a residential setting such as a nursing home, to meet daily personal care needs. The sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected acess to and use of long-term care among older adults with care needs, potentially resulting in unmet care needs and adverse health outcomes.

A faculty member from Wayne State University received a $2.9 million grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health to study the short- and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of long-term care among high-need older adults who have difficulty with one or more self-care activities. The study, “The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Long-Term Care for High-Need Older Adults with and without Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias,” aims to compare the impact of COVID-19 on long-term care and health outcomes of high-need older adults with and without ADRD.

“Our study will tie pandemic-related changes in long-term care use among vulnerable older adults to changes in health outcomes, including avoidable hospitalizations and ER visits,” said Yulya Truskinovsky, Ph.D., professor of economics in Wayne State’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and principal investigator of the grant. “We focus on adults with ADRD because they have higher care needs, but also more resilient  care networks, which may have been protective.”  

Truskinovsky said the study will use multiple years of data to to evaluate if COVID-19-related changes to long-term care outcomes are temporary or if the pandemic permanently altered how older adults with care needs access and receive long-term care.

“Our ultimate goal is to provide guidance to public health officials on how to improve well-being and continuity of care of the growing number of older adults living with ADRD and other high-care needs,” added Truskinovsky.

The grant number for this National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health study is AG080583-01.

###

About Wayne State University

Wayne State University is one of the nation’s pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit research.wayne.edu.