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Publisher: Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University
Published Date: March 2005

Introduction

This report was funded in part by the Ohio Long-Term Care Project through the Ohio Board of Regents and in part from a grant from the Ohio Health Care Association, the Ohio Academy of Nursing Homes and the Association of Ohio Philanthropic Homes for the Aged.

Fast Facts

• Nursing home residents are younger today then ten years earlier. The proportion of nursing home residents under the age of 65 has doubled from 7 to 14% and the average age has dropped from 83 to 79.
• Nursing home residents are more disabled in 2004 then they were ten years earlier. Residents have higher numbers of activity of daily living impairments and are more likely to be cognitively impaired.
• Four and one half percent of nursing home residents (3293) do not meet the Medicaid intermediate level of care criteria. This represents a major drop from 1994 when 8.2% of residents (6696) did not meet level of care.
• A review of those residents not meeting level of care showed these individuals to be significantly younger then the overall resident population, with one-third under the age of 65, compared to 11% for the general population.
• About 70% of those not meeting level of care have a mental health disorder, with depression being the most prevalent diagnosis.
• Just under 3% of nursing home residents are classified as having lower level of care needs and could possibly be served in assisted living or in-home care settings. These residents are much more likely to have good cognitive ability and are much less likely to be incontinent, making them good candidates for assisted living or in-home services.
• More than half of this lower level of care group is over age 85 and half have three or more activity limitations. A very small proportion of these individuals have been short-term residents, making opportunities to leave the nursing home limited.

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