According to a report by United Hospital Fund (UHF) and the Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (the Alliance), when patients who have been discharged from inpatient care refuse home health care services, they may experience higher rates of readmission to the hospital and a lower quality of life. Their reasons ranged from concerns about finances, to a fear of losing control and privacy, to the belief that family members could manage needed care on their own. Those who refused home health care were twice as likely as those who accepted to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 or 60 days. The report also contains a number of recommendations, among them interventions that improve communication about care challenges and home health care services, qualitative and quantitative research on all aspects of home health care refusals, policy changes to increase access and coordination, and continuity across providers and care settings. For more information click here.