Supply and segregation of nursing home beds in Chicago communities

Previous research suggests that a shortage of nursing home beds in Latino communities and segregation within facilities in urban settings may contribute to low utilization patterns that both Latino and African American elders exhibit. In order to explore structural barriers to nursing home care for African American and Latino families, this study examines the supply and ethnoracial composition of nursing homes in Chicago communities.

With data from the 1990 US Census of Population and Illinois' 1994 Long-Term Care Facility Survey, regression was used to determine if Latino nursing home residents in Chicago follow neighborhood residential patterns in the same way that African American nursing home residents do. Next the availability of nursing home beds by ethnoracial community is examined using analysis of variance. Finally, we present correlations between the racial/ethnic composition of Chicago's facilities, community demographics and facility characteristics that have been associated with quality outcomes.

Both African American and Latino nursing home residents follow residential housing patterns, tending to reside in facilities located in their own communities. Latino communities have the fewest beds. However, Latinos appear to be more mobile in their utilization of nursing facilities in other communities than either African Americans or whites and tend to reside in smaller homes with fewer Medicaid recipients.

Health policy makers must actively address racial and ethnic differences in access to long-term care or risk reinforcing the effects of poverty and segregation. In order to ensure that Latino elders living alone are not going without needed care city leaders must promote a range of culturally sensitive alternatives to nursing home care within Latino communities while promoting geographic mobility for African Americans.