Health, Social Support, and Housing Transitions: Social scientists are beginning to disentangle the factors that trigger the movement of older adults from independent living environments into long-term care facilities. Previous research indicates age-related diseases that lead to disability increase the risk of a housing transition. However, the role of social support in this process is unclear. The proposed research examines the relationship between health status, social support, and housing transitions among the older adult population with data from the 1993 and 1995 Asset and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) study.
The specific aims of this project are to: 1) Examine the degree to which social support moderates the relationship between health and housing transitions. 2) Identify the effect of different sources of support on housing transitions. 3) Determine the relationship between the level of social support reliance and housing transitions. The analysis will assess how reliance upon different sources of social support (i.e., informal only, formal only, and a combination of informal and formal) is related to changes in housing type (i.e., private residence, supportive housing, nursing home) over a two-year period. In addition, intensity of assistance received (i.e., a summary of assistance with ten activities) will be considered.
| Wilmoth, Janet M (2010) Health trajectories among older movers. J Aging Health 22:862-81 |
