title: Issues and findings relating to multi-level accommodation for seniors.
abstract: Tenants in self-contained suites and board-residence in a building also offering personal care were interviewed pre- and post-move and were compared with tenants in more traditional retirement housing, offering only self-contained suites, with applicants who did not move in and with elderly nonapplicants. There was no evidence of differential decline, relative to controls, in the self-reported health status, level of interaction with family and friends, or in the activity level of those who moved to the multilevel facility. If anything, benefits accrued from the move in the form of higher morale and increased interaction with neighbors. Furthermore, more in the multi-level tenant group than in any other group felt that they had more friends and that they were "getting out" and "dressing up" to a greater extent than when interviewed 18 mo earlier. These findings should help to allay the fears of those concerned that the well-elderly might find it depressing to be among those less competent and that the availability of on-site meals, housekeeping and nursing services, and recreation might foster dependency and/or disengagement from the broader community.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D006262:Health; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000592:standards*; D006798:Housing / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009013:Morale; D012111:Residence Characteristics