In the last decade, minorities have poured into nursing homes at a time when whites have left in greater numbers, according to a new study from Brown University which suggests a racial disparity in greater attention in the United States options.
At first glance, the analysis, published by July 7 in the journal Health Affairs, suggests that black, Hispanic and Asian elders are gaining greater access to care for the elderly. But the growing proportion of minorities in nursing homes comes in part because they don't have the same access to more desirable forms of care as wealthier whites, said the study's main author Zhanlian Feng, Assistant Professor of health of the community at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
"Apparently, we are closing the gap in terms of access of minorities to beds for the elderly, but I do not think that it is something to celebrate," Feng, said. "They are really the last resort". "Most elderly people prefer to stay in their homes, or some place like home, but not an asylum for the elderly unless they have to."
New analysis shows between 1999 and 2008 population of elderly people in the country was contracted by 6.1 percent to slightly more than 1.2 million people. In this period decline in the number of whites in nursing homes by 10.2 per cent at the national level, while the number of blacks increased to 10.8 per cent, the number of Hispanics increased by 54.9% and the number of Asians increased by 54.1%. The study also examined changes in population of elderly people in the top 10 metropolitan areas of each minority.
Previous research has shown that in areas predominantly minority nursing homes tend to be of lower quality and are more likely to close, while assisted living facilities are more likely to be built in areas where residents are high-income. The result, which is reflected in the figures in the new book from Health Affairs, is a gap that plays not only economic and geographically, but also racial, said Feng.
"We know that these alternatives are not equally available, accessible or affordable to everyone, certainly not to many minority elders", said.
As politicians seek to "rebalance" attention to other forms of care homes for the elderly, for example with changes in the financing of Medicaid to support household and community, services should represent these disparities, said Feng. As it is, the targets are clearly more likely to use more convenient alternatives; more concerted efforts are necessary to promote the use of elderly minority of them too, he said.
"Rebalancing is a recognition of the preferences of the majority of people in long-term care," said Feng. "This effort to be successful you have to bear in mind that is so".
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