A Conceptual Model for the Mobility Patterns of Nursing Home Admissions

This article draws from the literature in long-term care, demography, and geography to develop an initial conceptual framework to explain variations in the patterns of nursing home moves. The conceptual framework is bolstered by preliminary data from state censuses of nursing homes that asked about the origins of current nursing home residents. The data suggest that a relatively high proportion of nursing home residents move to a different county in the process of admission to a nursing home. The research and applied implications of the framework are discussed.