Publications by Janet O'Keeffe for Health Policy Center

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This study explores how low-income functionally impaired, elderly persons are able to remain in the community without home- and community-based care (HCBC). We find that, while most rely on informal care and Medicare home care services, many go without needed services. In a comparison with participants, the non-participants were found to be significantly more likely to enter a nursing home. While the study cannot attribute the higher nursing home entry to the absence of HCBC services with certainty, the findings raise the possibility that an expansion of HCBC services could delay the need for nursing home care for this population. (Long, Sharon, Liu, Korbin, Black, Kirsten, O'Keeffe, Janet, and Molony, Sheila. 2005. "Getting by in the Community: Lessons from Frail Elders." Journal of Aging & Social Policy 71(1): 19-44.)

Home and community-based care (HCBC) has long been viewed as a potentially more cost-effective strategy than nursing home care for providing long-term care services to elderly persons. This study provides information on how low-income, functionally impaired elderly persons who are nursing home eligible are managing their long-term care needs at home without the assistance of Medicaid waiver services. (Home Health Care Services Quarterly 2001; 20(4): 73-90).

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