How nursing home shortages affect care and health for older adults with Alzheimer's and their caregivers
The Effects of Declining Nursing Home Capacity on Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Access and Health Outcomes among Older Adults and their Caregivers
This project looks at how falling nursing home availability changes access to care and health for older adults with Alzheimer's and the people who care for them.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Rochester NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Rochester, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11230854 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From your perspective, this work examines what happens when nursing homes cut beds or close and how that changes where older adults with Alzheimer's get care and how well they recover after hospital stays. Researchers will analyze national and county-level nursing home, hospital, and patient data and link that information to staffing, admission activity, and caregiver measures. They will also include caregiver-reported information in some areas and use models to compare policy options like payment changes or incentives to expand capacity. The aim is to identify which actions could keep beds available, speed recovery after hospitalization, and reduce strain on families.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants would be older adults with Alzheimer's or related dementias who have needed post-acute or long-term nursing home care and their family caregivers.
Not a fit: People without dementia or those who never require nursing home or post-acute care are unlikely to directly benefit from this work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could guide policies to preserve nursing home access, shorten hospital stays, and reduce caregiver stress for people with Alzheimer's.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies have documented nursing home closures, staffing shortages, and links to delayed discharges and caregiver burden, but combining national capacity trends with patient outcomes and policy modeling is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Rochester, United States
- University of Rochester — Rochester, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mcgarry, Brian — University of Rochester
- Study coordinator: Mcgarry, Brian
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.