Should Grandma really be in a nursing home?

Are there better ways to care for her?

Covid-19 is changing the way we think about care for our elderly.

It has led families to decide to help Grandma or Granddad remain at home with skilled visiting care.

The latter has become more attractive as more business people work from home and are able to keep Grandma with them.

Lexington County has an Extended Care, the largest nursing home in the state. It has nursing care at other retirement communities including Wellmore in Lexington and the Lowman Home in White Rock.

Our country has the largest number of nursing-home residents in the world. Yet more families and doctors have become reluctant to send older people to nursing homes.

They say they fear infection and isolation from family.

Even last summer when many hospitals performed procedures that often resulted in long-term stays, referrals to nursing homes remained low.

Occupancy in nursing homes is down 15%. That’s more than 195,000 residents since the end of 2019.

Big insurers, home-healthcare companies and hospital systems told The Wall Street Journal they are betting the falling rate of residents will continue.

Prisma Health in the Columbia area is reportedly offering new ways to support sicker patients recovering at home, often using technology to allow close monitoring.

Medicare is considering paying for digital doctor visits and hospital-level care in patients’ homes.

Some nursing homes say they are adjusting their own home-focused care and upgrading buildings and staff to help sicker patients who might come to them for hospital-level care.

The Chronicle is asking nursing and retirement home managers locally what their plans are.

Nursing homes say they are optimistic about being able to help more baby boomers who require nursing care. Well before that, they say, covid vaccines should take care of staff and resident cases in their facilities.