Changes in late-life assistance networks for Black and White older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted older Black Americans. Given that assistance networks play a crucial role in older adults' ability to respond to challenges, we sought to investigate whether older adults' assistance network size changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and differed by race.

Methods

We analyzed data from the 2018-2020 rounds of the U.S. National Health and Aging Trends Study for Black and White adults aged 70 and older receiving help in the community or residential care settings. We used ordinary least squares regression to compare changes in assistance network size in the 2 years pre-COVID-19 (2018-2019, N = 3438) to changes in size at the onset of COVID-19 (2019-2020, N = 3185).

Results

Black older adults had larger assist

SUBMITTER: Oyeyemi DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11654626 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature