Nursing home closures may have implications in at least two areas. First, access and availability of services to elderly in the local community may be jeopardized when a facility closes. Second, the physical and mental well-being of residents in the closing facility may also suffer. For example, relocation stress is a well known condition that adversely impacts the health of residents when they are moved to unfamiliar surroundings. Movement to unfamiliar surroundings is inevitable when a facility closes. This proposal will draw upon nursing home resident assessment data (Minimum Data Set (MDS+)), the On Line Survey and Certification of Automated Records (OSCAR), the Area Resource File (ARF), and primary data to examine the closure of nursing homes and the effects these closures have on resident outcomes. The national data sets will be used to examine the incidence, prevalence, and risk factors for nursing home closure. Residents from one recently closed 372 bed facility will be followed to assess the nosocomial, physiological, and psychological effects of closure on these residents.
