Moves into Residential Care Amongst Older People in Britain

This paper examines the usefulness of the British Household Panel Survey in investigating entry into residential care. Of over 2,000 people aged 65 and over, 101 elderly people have entered into long-term residential care between Wave 1 and Wave 8. The circumstances leading to entry into residential care are complex and multi-faceted. Theoretically the likelihood of an individual moving into care will be influenced by the need for care, the availability of informal support from both within and outside the household, and the availability of and ability to pay for professional care. The research investigates the demographic characteristics, living arrangements, health status, socio-economic position and receipt of social services (such as home help or meals-on-wheels) of persons aged 65 and over. Differences are explored between those older people who enter residential care and those who remain living in the community. The rates rise with age, approximately doubling every 5 years, and are strongly related to a number of indicators of health. Those living alone, or never-married, are more likely to enter institutions, while those with a professional or managerial occupation have a decreased risk. In a multivariate analysis, gender and indicators of economic resources are not significantly associated with the likelihood of institutionalisation once health and socio-demographic factors are controlled for. The rate of entry to institutions for the years 1995-8 was significantly lower than that for 1992-4.