A new study found that an increase in immigration was associated with lower death rates among older adults in US metropolitan areas, largely due to an increase in the health care workforce.Research conducted by scholars at Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester found that adding 1,000 immigrants to a metropolitan statistical area resulted in about 10 fewer elderly deaths than anticipated, New India Abroad reports.The study attributed this decline to the influx of foreign-born health workers, including physicians, nurses and long-term care aides, during a period of persistent workforce shortages across the United States. The study estimated that for every 1,000 new immigrants, an additional 142 foreign-born health workers were added to the local workforce.The researchers found that these workers supplement rather than replace U.S.-born health workers. Studies indicate that increased immigration led to a net expansion of the long-term care workforce, without decreasing wages or displacing existing workers.The findings were published as a working paper in February by the National Bureau of Economic Research and supported by the National Institute on Aging. This research builds on earlier work examining the composition of the long-term care workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.According to the study, immigrants made up about 18 percent of the US health care workforce. They were about one in five nursing home workers and one in three home care workers.Studies have also linked higher immigration levels to a decline in institutionalization of older adults, suggesting that the increased availability of home care workers has allowed more seniors to remain in their own homes. Aging at home was associated with better health outcomes, including lower mortality rates, compared to institutional care settings.The researchers noted that older adults living at home experienced better mental health and reduced risk of complications such as infections and hospitalizations that were more common in group care environments.The study estimated that a 25 percent increase in immigration nationwide could reduce elderly mortality by about 5,000 deaths.The findings come as the United States faces a growing imbalance between the number of older adults and the available caregiving workforce. The study cites immigration as a factor that could help address the long-term care shortage, along with other measures such as better wages and working conditions.
