Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, Vol 50, Issue 3 S164-S172, Copyright © 1995 by The Gerontological Society of America
Factors underlying the institutionalization of elderly persons in Canada
Y Carriere and L Pelletier
Department of Demography, University of Montreal.
Using data from the Survey of Old Age Security and Canadian Pension Plan
Retirement Recipients conducted by Health and Welfare Canada in 1987, this
article estimates the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics
and institutionalization of elderly persons in Canada. Region of residence
was introduced in our model as a proxy for system effects. Logistic
regression showed that age, marital status, health, family income, and
region of residence all have a significant effect on institutionalization.
We look at policies specific to different provinces to elaborate some
hypotheses on how they affect the likelihood of residing in an institution.
When trying to estimate the future needs and costs of institutional
housing, this study shows the importance of considering not only the number
of persons aged 65 years and over, but also expected changes in their
sociodemographic characteristics and in the policies concerning long-term
care services.