COVID-19 Causes More Harm to Seniors Than Just Death

Rush University Medical Center Professor Alexander Sasha Rackman writes in The Hill that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing more problems for older adults than just illness and death. He warns that "the implications of widespread social distancing and cancellation of routine home-based medical care will be profound and potentially devastating" for seniors. With the pandemic causing serious disruptions to critical home care services, Rackman notes that "home health agencies hesitate to continue skilled nursing or therapy services for homebound seniors at the risk of potentially infecting them." With some in-home services serving the homebound population suggesting that they may suspend operations, seniors may have to travel to a lab or clinic instead of having the convenience of in-home phlebotomist visits. "Blood tests to monitor blood thinners or kidney function for people on high-risk medications may not be routinely available until this crisis subsides," Rackman adds. Moreover, nursing community care is apparently harder to find, with hospitals filling up beyond capacity. "When a senior is hospitalized, they can become weaker during the process and are often recommended to go to a short-term rehab or skilled nursing facility to regain their function and strength before going home," Rackman says. With such services becoming more stringent on which applicants they accept, "a cascade of bad outcomes" potentially looms, he laments.