Living with others as an alternative to nursing home use

The authors studied a synthetic sample combining information on nonmarried women from surveys of community-resident elderly and nursing home residents to identify factors affecting the probability of observing individuals in one of three situations: living alone, living with others, and residing in a nursing home. Increasing income increased slightly the probability of living alone and had a positive effect on the probability of residing in a nursing home for most income levels within the sample range. As expected, disability and increasing age were very important in distinguishing those in the nursing home from those residing in the community, and also increased the probability of living with others, other things remaining constant. Whites were slightly more likely to live alone and less likely to reside in a nursing home, other things remaining constant. Residing in a warmer climate decreased the probability of being a nursing home resident. The analysis indicates that factors distinguishing nursing home residents from community residents are also at least somewhat useful in distinguishing those who live alone from those who live with others, supporting the inclusion of shared community living arrangements with the nursing home as part of a continuum of supportive living arrangements.