Changes in Characteristics, Needs, and Payment for Care of Elderly Nursing Home Residents: 1999 to 2004


 

Publication Date: June 2007

Publisher: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The proportion of elderly adults over age 65 in nursing homes has declined over the past two decades, most noticeably in recent years. Reasons suggested for this trend include reductions in disability rates among elderly people, improvements in mechanisms for coping with disability, and changes in the residential and long-term care options available to elderly people with disabilities.

This report focuses on the characteristics, needs, and payment sources for the care of elderly nursing home residents, as well as changes in these trends as the size of the resident population has declined between 1999 and 2004.