The goal of the proposed research is to further our understanding of the adjustments older individuals make to their housing, living arrangements and health care needs in response to age-related life events. Such arrangements preserve the independence of older individuals and enable them to continue to live in the community often in a familiar physical and social environment to which they may have strong attachments. Adjustments are broadly defined to include physical modifications to the dwelling, residential moves, arrangements for personal care and home health care, and various types of home maintenance help provided either formally or informally. The specific research questions to be addressed include: Under what set of circumstances in each of several adjustments undertaken? Why do individuals with similar kinds of needs choose different alternatives? What are the differences in outcomes between different adjustments, or between making some adjustment versus making no adjustment at all? What impediments exist to needed adjustments? What is the timing and sequencing of events and adjustments? These questions will be addressed through three closely-related analyses: (a) testing separate but parallel models of seven adjustments; (b) modeling the choice between alternative adjustments; and (c) modeling the determinants and outcomes of home repair activity. Statistical techniques will include OLS regression and a range of maximum likelihood techniques to analyze discrete choice (e.g., multinomial logit). A unique feature of this proposal is the data base to be used in the analyses: the linked file of the Survey of Housing Adjustments (SHA) and its """"""""parent"""""""" survey, the Annual Housing Survey (AHS). These data were collected by the Census Bureau for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The SHA was developed explicitly to measure the causes and consequences of life adjustments made in older age, and contains a comprehensive set of measures. The linkage to the AHS enriches the SHA with measures of financial status and housing and neighborhood conditions.
| Reschovsky, J D; Newman, S J (1991) Home upkeep and housing quality of older homeowners. J Gerontol 46:S288-97 |
| Reschovsky, J D; Newman, S J (1990) Adaptations for independent living by older frail households. Gerontologist 30:543-52 |
