Open AccessFamily networks: predictors of nursing home entry.
Author(s) -
Vicki A. Freedman,
Lisa F. Berkman,
Steve Rapp,
Adrian M. Ostfeld
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.84.5.843
Subject(s) - spouse , institutionalisation , logistic regression , medicine , gerontology , nursing homes , cohort , next of kin , nursing , psychiatry , archaeology , sociology , anthropology , history
Despite the importance of kin in caring for older relatives, few studies have examined the relationship between the family network and the risk of nursing home placement. Data from a cohort of noninstitutionalized elderly persons living in New Haven in 1982 were used to predict nursing home admission through 1985. Logistic regression analyses show that older persons who have regular contact with kin have a lower risk of institutionalization. For men, the spouse is most important in reducing the risk of entry; for women, having regular contact with at least one family member--of any relation--reduces the risk of entry.