How many older adults live in nursing homes

Living Long in Poverty Of the 4. Living in Institutions In the 17 years between and , admissions to skilled nursing facilities increased almost threefold, from 28 to 80 per 1, Medicare beneficiaries. Depression and Suicide Older women are more likely than older men to report that they are depressed. In one study, 16 percent of women reported being depressed compared with 11 percent of men The prevalence of depression increases with age.

Caring for Loved Ones Sixty-five percent of older adults with long-term care needs rely exclusively on family and friends to provide assistance. Another 30 percent supplement family care with paid assistance. Care provided by family and friends can determine whether an older person can remain at home. In fact, 50 percent of the elderly who have a long-term care need but no family available to care for them are in nursing homes, while only 7 percent who have a family caregiver are in institutional settings.

As of , some Of these, As more people live long enough to experience multiple health issues and dependency, more relatives will be facing this responsibility. In one Gallup survey, 55 percent of caregivers reported providing care for three years or more. Part of this exploration is considering where the prospective facility falls in the larger scheme of the industry.

Does it rate better or worse? What sort of people live in these nursing homes? To start you on your exploration, Nursing Home Abuse Center would like to share some facts and statistics about nursing homes. This information may be a helpful starting point as you make decisions for you and your family.

Two-thirds of the population of nursing homes are women Among all nursing home residents, Historically, few Hispanic and Asian adults chose to live in nursing homes. It is largely thought the reason is because of language and cultural barriers. Now, however, nursing homes have a more radical ethnic and cultural mix. People live in nursing homes for a variety of reasons. Some require skilled medical care, and others have cognitive disorders that make living alone impossible.

Others may live there temporarily as they recover from an illness or injury. Generally speaking, individuals in nursing homes require ongoing care for at least one chronic condition. Most require some level of care with activities of daily living ADL , including:. Most commonly, nursing home residents require care due to health or cognitive impairments that make living independently difficult.

These impairments often include:. There are a lot of misconceptions about the general population of nursing home residents. While many residents do have chronic conditions and need assistance with ADL, there are many residents who are independent and largely healthy.

CMS reports:. Most nursing home residents are admitted with more than one condition, most with three or more conditions. The most common afflictions resulting in being admitted to a nursing home are in no particular order : effects after a stroke; cognitive disorders;cardiovascular diseases and hypertension; functional decline e.

In , almost 70 million people will be 65 or older and 8. There are estimated to be approximately 77 million baby boomers, of these 3. However, the elder care industry is booming and there are likely to be more options than those available currently.

Because of medical advances,people are living longer than ever. We can infer that there may be more short-term stays due to requiring nursing home care for rehabilitation after falls.

However, this means that we can also expect more people to require assisted living or nursing home care due to decline in ability to conduct activities of daily living ADLs — walking, bathing, toileting, transferring,or dressing without help.