Unfortunately for many there is no home to go home to. They cannot take care of themselves living alone, they don’t have enough money for a full time in-home caregiver and they either have no family or they have no family willing or able to take them in.
It’s a horrible situation.
In some states, the state takes the home to pay for the care, and turns the money over to the nursing home. I know because it happened to my mother’s second husband.