Trends in Residential Long-Term Care: Use of Nursing Homes and Assisted Living and Characteristics of Facilities and Residents

In this paper, the authors use data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, which represents the full Medicare population, regardless of living arrangement, to describe characteristics of elderly residents of both types of facility and the characteristics of the facilities. Our sample is limited to beneficiaries age 65 or older. They compare the characteristics of the two populations and types of facilities and explore changes in those characteristics between 1992 and 1998. Individual characteristics examined include measures of health, activities of daily living, and age of individuals in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The size, ownership and service package of the facilities where they live is also compared. [34 PDF pages]