Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the supply of formal and informal home care to older adults in many countries across the world. This study aims to compare the initial picture of how the supply of formal and informal home care to older adults in European countries and Israel changed during the first pandemic year (from mid-2020 to mid-2021) and to examine the changes that these countries made in the provision of adequate care to older adults. Using data from the two COVID-19 waves of SHARE, we show that the provision of formal home care services improved in the investigated period, as in 2021 the share of those who reported difficulties in receiving formal home care dropped significantly compared to the previous year. By contrast, informal care provision patterns experienced a growing polarization, with some countries continuing in reporting a strong support from this source, and others moving towards a remarkable reduction in the help coming from informal networks. These findings can serve as a basis for the development of evidence-based recommendations that can inform future care policies at the national level and to implement more sustainable models for older adults living in the community.