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Article: Oldest seniors shift away from nursing homes: alternatives, such as assisted-living facilities, house about 1 million residents with an average age over 80.(Practice Trends)
- Article from:
- Family Practice News
- Article date:
- January 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Nursing home use by the "oldest old"--or those aged 85 and older--has declined sharply since 1984, according the Lewin Group. The national health care and human services consulting firm cites less disability, new alternatives to nursing homes, and changes in the pattern of nursing home care for the decline.
In a study released in November, the Lewin Group found that if all older adults (ages 65 and older) had continued to use nursing homes as they did in 1985, 1.95 million older adults would reside in nursing homes today. Instead, just 1.32 million residents ages 65 and older lived in nursing homes in 2004.
At the same time, "the total number of people ...