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Predictors of Institutionalization of Cognitively Impaired Elders

Family Help and the Timing of Placement

^a Center on Aging, The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
^b Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
^c Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Ohio
^d Mandel School of Applied Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
^e New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton

Joseph E. Gaugler, Center on Aging, The University of Minnesota, D-330-12 Mayo Building, Box 197, Minneapolis, MN 55455 E-mail: gaug0015{at}tc.umn.edu.

Decision Editor: Toni C. Antonucci, PhD

Although predictors of nursing home placement have attracted a good deal of attention in gerontological research, the type and amount of family assistance offered to caregivers prior to institutionalization has not been extensively examined. This study analyzed the impact of family help on the timing of placement among cognitively impaired care recipients. Using longitudinal data from the Adult Day Care Collaborative Study, an event-history analysis was performed to determine the effects of family help after sociodemographic characteristics, caregiving stressors, and indicators of caregiver well-being were taken into account. Results showed that caregivers were far less likely to institutionalize their relatives when family members provided overnight help and assisted with activities of daily living care. These findings suggest that specific types of family help play an important role in delaying nursing home placement among older adults suffering from dementia.

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