title: Stigma and Discontinuity in Multilevel Senior Housing's Continuum of Care.
abstract: This article presents data from 2 qualitative studies, confirming what gerontologists observed 30 years ago. Multilevel senior housing residents experience stigma and distress in an environment where people are grouped by levels of functioning.
  
  
  
  Qualitative, interview-based (N = 367) studies were conducted in senior housing settings offering multiple levels of care (N = 7). Analyses involved revisiting coded narrative data, ethnographers' field-based knowledge, and identification of pattern saturation.
  
  
  
  Residents and places reflecting the highest levels of care are stigmatized in a context where people are monitored for health changes and required to relocate. Consequently, residents self-isolate, develop a diminished sense of self, and hide health and cognitive conditions out of fear of relocation.
  
  
  
  Developers, operators, staff, and potential residents need to recognize the personal and social challenges typically experienced even in within-site relocation. It is important to rethink the predominant model of senior housing that requires residents with changing needs to move and adapt to the setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Center for Aging Studies, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland. eroth@umbc.edu.
authors.forename: Erin G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Center for Aging Studies, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: J Kevin
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Eckert
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Center for Aging Studies, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Leslie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Morgan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D040561:Assisted Living Facilities; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D005260:Female; D016852:Housing for the Elderly; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010360:Patient Transfer; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012649:Self Concept; D012934:Social Isolation; D057545:Social Stigma
keywords: Aging in place; Ethnography; Qualitative; Relocation and transition