Story by Dann Hayes, (785) 864-8855 [email protected]
STUDY REVEALS SENIOR CITIZENS REAP BENEFITS FROM SHARING THEIR HOMES
LAWRENCE -- It's an age-old question directly linked to the old age issue -- what housing options are available to the elderly? Nursing home? A spare bedroom at a relative's house? According to a study developed at the University of Kansas, senior citizens who don't want to move at all have another viable option.
Two KU researchers learned that by sharing their homes with younger people who pay rent or help with chores, many senior citizens have found a promising alternative to moving into a nursing home or moving in with a relative.
The study, prepared by Deborah Elaine Altus, assistant research professor at the KU gerontology center, and R. Mark Mathews, associate director of the gerontology center and associate professor of human development, will be published in a 1999 issue of the Journal of Clinical Geropsychology. It indicates that people 70 and older prefer sharing their homes because it confers a greater sense of well-being than living alone.
"Fears about the welfare and safety of older persons who live alone often lead family members and service providers to recommend institutional placement, even when the elder has minimal direct care needs," Altus said. "Fiscal and ethical concerns, though, are leading family members, service providers and government officials to seek alternatives to institutional care that are less expensive and that allow elders to 'age in place.' "
The study was based on a survey mailed to 252 homeowners who participated in homesharing programs in Wichita, Kansas City, Mo., and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. Of those, 105 surveys were returned, with the majority of responses being from women. Forty-one of the respondents were age 50 to 69, while 52 of those who answered were 70 or older. The mean age of the respondents was 72 years.
"What we learned was basically what we suspected," Mathews said. "Homesharers reported that they received a number of benefits by sharing their homes with someone else."
These benefits included greater senses of well-being and security, as well as more social interaction.
"One homesharer wrote on a note attached to the survey that she thought homesharing was wonderful and that she would highly recommend it to anyone needing a home or someone who has a home but needs some help," Altus said. "The results of this study should offer hope about the viability of homesharing to our rapidly aging population and their families."
The study also found that homeowners in the younger age group (50 to 69) reported financial benefits more frequently than their older counterparts.
"That result is not surprising," Altus said. "The younger homeowners are more likely to charge rent than older homeowners, who often ask for help with household tasks in exchange for rent."
Men reported a significantly higher level of health benefits and a greater sense of well-being than women. The director of one homesharing program believed that men in the older age group were better suited to homesharing than women because they "didn't feel proprietary about their kitchens and were used to having someone help them with their domestic chores."
The researchers noted, however, that, because only 19 percent of the respondents were male, caution was warranted in generalizing about the men's level of satisfaction.
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