Characteristics of Individuals Using Residential Care Communities in the United States 

Do you interact with residential care communities as part of your clinical practice? Caffrey, Sengupta, and Melekin (2021) describe residential care communities as “housing for persons who cannot live independently but generally do not require the skilled care provided by nursing homes.”

This type of housing may include assisted living communities or adult foster care, for example. Caffrey et al (2021) analyzed data from the National Study of Long-Term Care Providers to determine the characteristics of residential care residents in 2018.

The majority of residents in these facilities were non-Hispanic white (89 percent), female (67 percent), and 85 years of age or older (55 percent). Over half (66 percent) needed help with three or more activities of daily living, with most needing help with bathing, followed by walking, and dressing.

One-third of the residents had a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or other type of dementia. Additional details regarding these residents may be found in the data brief.

Reference

Caffrey C, Sengupta M, Melekin A. (2021) Residential care community resident characteristics: United States, 2018, NCHS Data Brief no 404. NCHS Data Brief, no 427. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.