Receipt of Home Health and 30-day Outcomes Among Veterans With Dementia Following Inpatient Surgery

Although surgery among persons with dementia is common, dementia is a strong predictor of poor surgical outcomes, including readmissions and mortality.1 Increasingly, older adults—including those with dementia—are being discharged from hospital to home, where gaps in home health receipt are common.2 Yet, little is known about relationships between home health following surgery and post-discharge outcomes, particularly among those with dementia. We explored this question in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), where the number of veterans with dementia is expected to reach 500,000 by 2030, a 20% increase from 2019.