Kamal Ghorui
A new study found that increases in immigration were associated with lower mortality among older adults in US metropolitan areas, largely due to growth in the healthcare workforce.The research, conducted by scholars from Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Rochester, reported that adding 1,000 immigrants to a metropolitan statistical area corresponded to about 10 fewer elderly deaths than expected, New India Abroad reported.The study attributed this decline to the arrival of foreign-born healthcare workers, including physicians, nurses and long-term care aides, during a period of persistent workforce shortages across the United States. For every 1,000 new immigrants, the study estimated an additional 142 foreign-born healthcare workers were added to the local workforce.Researchers found that these workers supplemented, rather than replaced, US-born healthcare employees. The study indicated that increased immigration led to a net expansion of the long-term care workforce, without reducing wages or displacing existing workers.The findings were published in February as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research and supported by the National Institute on Aging. The research built on earlier work examining the composition of the long-term care workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.Immigrants made up about 18 percent of the US healthcare workforce, according to the study. They accounted for roughly one in five nursing home workers and one in three home-care workers.The study also linked higher immigration levels to a decline in the institutionalisation of older adults, suggesting that increased availability of home-care workers allowed more seniors to remain in their homes. Ageing at home was associated with improved health outcomes, including lower mortality, compared with institutional care settings.Researchers noted that older adults living at home tended to experience better mental health and reduced exposure to risks such as infections and hospitalisations 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 came as the United States faced a growing imbalance between the number of older adults and the available caregiving workforce. The study pointed to immigration as one factor that could help address long-term care shortages, alongside other measures such as improved wages and working conditions.
