Census data show smaller perecentage of “oldest old” reside in nursing homes

Despite the graying of the nation, thepercentage of elderly living in nursing homes has declined, accordingto Census data released today. The downturn reflects the improvedhealth of seniors and more choices of care for the elderly.  About 7.4% of Americans aged 75 and older lived in nursing homes in 2006, compared with 8.1% in 2000 and 10.2% in 1990.  “Theupper-income white population has other options than nursing homes,”says William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution. “They’removing to assisted living or their well-off, baby boomer children aretaking care of them in other ways.” At-home care andassisted-living facilities have been a fast-growing segment of eldercare in the past decade, says Elise Bolda, director of CommunityPartnerships for Older Adults, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation programthat helps communities develop long-term care and services for theelderly.  More than 1.8 million people live in nursing homes.  Thepercentage of the oldest age group of seniors living in nursing homeshas been dropping. Less than 16% of the 85-plus population was in suchfacilities in 2006, according to the Census. In 1985, more than 21% inthat age group lived in nursing homes, according to the NationalNursing Home Survey, a government study.  This is good news,given this is the age group most likely to need the assistance and thefastest-growing group in our population,” Bolda says.  TheCensus data on people who live in “group quarters” — including nursinghomes, college dormitories and prisons — provide the first detailedprofile of those populations since the 1980 Census.

Source/more:  USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070927/1a_bottomstrip27_dom.art.htm

Full report:

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/010709.html