Americans less likely to choose nursing homes
Fewer Americans are turning to nursing home care in their later years, especially because of the growth in home health care, says the government’s latest survey of nursing homes. This is good news for private duty home care providers who offer long-term care.
The 1995 survey shows that the number of nursing home residents was up only 4% between 1985 and 1995, despite an 18% increase in the population aged 65 years and older. Prior to the 1995 survey, nursing home utilization rates had kept pace with the increase in the elderly population.
The shift can be attributed to to the rapid growth in home health care, as well as advances in medical technology that permit people to postpone institutional care and opt for less costly home-based alternatives, says Donna E. Shalala, secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services.
"Americans who need long-term care have more choices today," she says. "Many more are able to stay in their homes and still receive the care they need."
The 1995 National Nursing Home Survey is the fourth survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since the early 1970s to track and profile the use of nursing homes.
The report on the survey, "An overview of nursing homes and their current residents: Data from the 1995 National Nursing Home Survey," is available from the National Center for Health Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, or can be downloaded from the NCHS home page on the Internet at http://www.cdc. gov.nchswww/nchshome.htm.
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