Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study is to identify the predictors as well as to examine the temporal properties of relocating from home to institutional settings or vice versa, and those who continue to live at home.

METHODS. We used three waves of the Longitudinal Study on Aging (LSOA) II with nationally representative sample with 70 years older. To capture longitudinal trajectory, Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) was used. Based on Lawton's Theory of Environmental Press, personal competencies were measured by physical, functional and mental health, while environmental press was measured by types of residential setting. As covariates, trajectories of family income and marital status were analyzed.

RESULTS. The data resulted in 5,251 older adults (mean age = 76.5 years old; gender = 63 percent female; race = 89 percent white, 9 percent blacks, and 2 percent other race). As for socioeconomic status, approximately 79 percent of the older adults were at or above poverty threshold, and 8 percent were below poverty level. As for health status, 42 percent of the older adults reported very good to excellent health, 35 percent reported good health, and 23 percent reported fair to poor health. Six percent of the older adults had at least one episode of living in the nursing home across the three waves of the study. Longitudinal LGCM showed that those who experienced sharper changes in physical health followed steeper growth in residential relocation over time, as well as mental health trajectories had similar impacts on initial status and growth of residential relocation, while controlling demographics (age, gender, race, and education). Individual income status at baseline had no effect on the change rate of relocation, but the rapider the change of income was, the more precipitously the slope of relocation changes. In contrast, the changes of marital status had no impact on initial status and growth of residential relocation.

IMPLICATIONS. This study confirmed that both physical and mental health have a significant impact on older adults' probability of relocation of residential setting as was seen in other findings. This suggests that Lawton's theory of environmental press holds overtime, but the study's findings also suggest that older adults relocate for financial reasons. Rapid changes in older adults' income had a significant independent effect on predicting relocation. Despite the growth of home and community base care with more options for settings and costs, the study suggests continuing financial challenges for older adults to remain home. Policymakers will need to pay attention to particularly for elders who may experience drastic income changes. Subsequent studies are needed to further examine the characteristics of elders who are vulnerable to income instability, and further test the relationship between personal competencies, residential setting, and financial status.