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 "Most older adults do not want to move to a nursing home, and
supporting older adults to age in the community has potential to
improve quality of life and costs for care," said lead study author
Marianne Granbom of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland,
and Lund University in Sweden.
"But to truly understand how aging in place can be supported, we
need to shift focus from merely looking at individual health
problems to also include the environments they live in," she told
Reuters Health by email.
Granbom and colleagues analyzed data collected between 2011 and 2105
on 7,197 U.S. adults ages 65 and older. During that period, about
eight percent moved within the community and four percent moved to
residential care facilities such as nursing homes and assisted
living. Overall, those who lived alone, had a lower annual income,
and visited the hospital during the past year were more likely to
move.
After taking health factors into account, poor indoor accessibility
was strongly associated with moving to a new home in the community,
but not with moving to a nursing home, the researchers reported in
Journals of Gerontology.
Having a one-floor house or having the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom
on one floor were the features most strongly associated with aging
in place. Dwellings with elevator access, lifts or stair-glides were
also helpful. No other home environment factors, such as entrance
accessibility or housing conditions, were associated with
relocation.
For older adults, moving to more age-friendly home environments
could help postpone the need for a nursing home, Granbom said.
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The study found that the longer the adults had lived in their
current homes, the less likely they were to move at all. Future
studies could incorporate the emotional attachment to home to better
understand the complexities of relocation decisions, the authors
wrote.
Dr. France Legare of Laval University in Quebec, Canada, who wasn't
involved with this study but who has researched housing decisions
among older adults, suggests some home-planning ideas to consider.
"During construction, leaving a space for a lift that could be
installed later could be helpful, especially in dense cities where
dwellings are often two or three stories," Legare said in a phone
interview. "Even if it isn't built yet, having a potential area for
a lift could help people age in place and make housing decisions as
they grow older."
Other features such as improved lighting, a no-step entrance,
walk-in showers with grab bars, and railings on both sides of indoor
stairs could help, said Jon Pynoos of the University of Southern
California is Los Angeles, California, who has researched the future
of housing for older adults.
"In a home with two or more stories, stacking closets that could
later be replaced with a small elevator might be a good investment,"
Pynoos, who wasn't involved with this study, told Reuters Health by
email. "Basically, plan ahead."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2QhMypg Journals of Gerontology: Social
Sciences, online December 5, 2018.
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