Characteristics of residents and providers in the assisted living pilot program.
OBJECTIVE
The number of residents in assisted living has rapidly increased, although these facilities still primarily serve people who can pay out of pocket. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was authorized to provide this level of care for the first time in the Assisted Living Pilot Program (ALPP). We describe the residents and providers, comparing them across three facility types and other populations, to assess the characteristics and feasibility of this new approach.


METHODS
We assessed ALPP residents and providers across seven Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. We obtained information from medical records, assessment tools, and a provider survey.


RESULTS
We report here on 743 residents placed from 2002 to 2004. The Department of Veterans Affairs contracted with 58 adult family homes, 56 assisted living facilities, and 46 residential care facilities. The average ALPP resident was a 70-year-old unmarried White man referred from an inpatient hospital and living in a private residence prior to placement. Adult family homes enrolled residents requiring greater levels of assistance with activities of daily living than other facility types. Assisted living facilities were less likely than adult family homes to admit residents with functional disabilities and less likely than either adult family homes or adult residential care facilities to admit residents with certain care needs.


CONCLUSIONS
ALPP placed residents with a wide range of characteristics in community facilities that varied widely in size and services. This information can help determine the role of this type of care in and outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Hedrick
Susan
S
Health Services Research and Development, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, 1100 Olive Way, Suite 1400, Seattle, WA 98101, USA. susan.hedrick@med.va.gov
Guihan
Marylou
M
Chapko
Michael
M
Manheim
Larry
L
Sullivan
Jean
J
Thomas
Mark
M
Barry
Sarah
S
Zhou
Andrew
A
D000368:Aged; D040561:Assisted Living Facilities / Q000191:economics; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012112:Residential Facilities; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs