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The Impact of Ethnic Involvement and Migration Patterns on Long-Term Care Plans Among Retired Sunbelt Migrants: Plans for Nursing Home Placement

Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.

Address correspondence to Eleanor Stoller, Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, Mather Memorial Building, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-7124. E-mail: eps3{at}po.cwru.edu

Objectives. We examine anticipated preferences for nursing home placement as a strategy for meeting possible future long-term care needs among a sample of community-dwelling elderly European Americans who migrated to Florida after retirement. We synthesize prior research on ethnicity in late life, retirement migration patterns, and informal networks of retired migrants.

Methods. We gathered data through structured personal interviews with 578 retired migrants identified through screening from telephone listings, supplemented with snowball sampling techniques.

Results. Lifetime migration patterns and current ethnic involvement are significant predictors of mentioning nursing home placement as a strategy for possible long-term care needs.

Discussion. We interpret these results within the framework of Rowles's emphasis on the permeability of community–nursing home boundaries.